DARK SOULS
by Hu5kyGirl
Summary: There are two bloodlines that set the war against the Prince, the Manilovs and the DeLaCruz's. Zacarias DeLaCruz is the last of the brothers to find his lifemate, but she's a threat to the prince. Rated 'M' for scenes of sex/violence Discretion advised
1. Chapter 1

This story is set after DARK SLAYER, I have NOT read DARK PERIL yet, I didn't want to read it until this story was finished, I don't know what is going to happen in DARK PERIL, although I have been told a few details that I did snip into this fic piece - so WARNING there may a hint of a spoiler in this piece.

Adriana is my Character - her name googled in Romanian was Darkness, so I thought it apropos for this story. I DO NOT own Christine Feehan's DARK CARPATHIANS novels or anything to do with them. This story was written purely for pleasure, and my over-active imagination.

I am posting one chapter a month, as my muse has tendencies to up and fly on occasion, so I am trying to be fair and just. I have incorporated a 'Quote' into each chapter written on the DARK SOULS side of this piece, every character will make an appearance either in the story or the 'Quotes' I have written. The Quotes are not from any of Christine Feehan's books, they are purely mine and made up.

CHAPTER: 1/?

WORDS: 3341

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

POSTED: November 2010

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_Today is a most unusual day,_

_Because we have never lived it before;_

_We will never live it again;_

_It is the only day we have - Francesca Del Ponce_

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Darkness, it was everywhere.

No matter where you looked it blanketed everything in its colourless depravity. Sitting in the cold drafty corner of the small cell was a soul long forgotten by light and integrity. A soul left to rot in the confines of loneliness and hate. Wrists manacled her to the walls of her prison, coated in the blood of Vampires, burning her flesh. Burns scarred her from previous wounds to her wrists, legs, and body, her once porcelain skin now bruised and mottled from centuries of abuse. Xavier the Master Mage had kept her against her will, forced her to remain a prisoner of his distorted satisfaction.

Many occasions he had almost drained her of her lifeblood, torn into her flesh with teeth and gnarled nails that had yellowed over the years, only to leave her to suffer the pain of living through it, so he may misuse her once again. Adriana wanted to die. Adriana Manilov was a young child when she was told her mother was torn to shreds some seven hundred years ago. She was underfed, mistreated and tortured by the one whom held her soul prisoner. She remembered very little of her father, her life and her childhood, all she recalled was the pain, the loneliness and sorrow of not being permitted the embrace of death.

Xavier used her for his experiments, serums to pollute the blood, serums to poison her soul, throw her mind into chaos, anticoagulants that made the blood in her veins pulse at such a desperately slow rhythm that her heart stuttered under its onslaught. Nine-hundred and forty-eight breaths ago he injected her body with his latest serum, one to incapacitate the mind and body, one to stop her mental screams for mercy. Her body was numb, unable to move unable to feel, she felt like a cold slab of granite, unmoveable, unemotional, unseeing of anything but bleak blackness. Time moved differently for Adriana, there was no day nor night as darkness was darkness. Instead time was passed by breaths, heartbeats and blinking.

Her eyes once a bright golden colour, were now dull, all light sucked from her heart and soul. Adriana welcomed the call of death, the scent of it, the taste. They settled on her manacles holding her left side still and heavy, watching with sick fascination as she no longer felt the sting of the vampire blood they were covered with, but the skin still peeled away blackened and dead almost to the bone. Adriana inhaled the scent of her body, dying around her and thought about the softness the world should be outside her cold damp prison. She had not seen the light of day since Xavier lost control of her mind some centuries ago during the hunt, never seen anything other than the four stone walls since that day. Adriana wanted to see trees, grass, animals, anything; the idea thrilled her and terrified her equally at the possibilities beyond.

She lay there, slumped in her chains in a mass of body parts unable to sustain movement, she heard the sound of her heart beating, her own screams of torment echoing in her mind, pleadings for death, the sound of her breath stirring the dust motes in the air around her, then footsteps. Her skin began to itch, hair follicles rising in fear and hostility, as her Master and tormentor was approaching. More footsteps dragged behind; signalling the ghouls, the puppets that were lucky enough to loose all thought processes and feeling to be empty dead husks of themselves. A state Adriana wanted to be, if only to cease the pain and suffering.

The heavy wooden door to her cold cell had the magic spell removed, she watched with unblinking eyes as the shapes and patterns moved in varying shades of grey and silver into amazing patterns of beauty. Patterns she knew expertly, the patterns that were her existence, her imprisonment, the feel of the magic that burned her skin, the enchantments that warned her of impending malice. She was Xavier's undoing as well as his experimental toy, knowing him intimately, through his use of power. Adriana was no Mage, however her blood was mixed with Mage upon her captivity, she knew spells only from Xavier, and the minds she once connected with long ago before they too left her. Only a hundred years ago she had thought Lara was her companion, one that would never had left her to Xavier's cruelty, but she was wrong, as Lara disappeared so did the last shred of hope Adriana held onto. It was likely that Lara was one of Xavier's ghouls if she wasn't already dead.

The ghouls that were behind Xavier dragged their bodies towards her, Adriana inwardly cringed at the thought of them tearing into her flesh once again, their lips sucking at her blood in a frenzy. Instead they slithered past her, another body clutched in their possession being dragged mercilessly along the stone ground, a male with long hair, and a face drawn tightly in pain. She listened as his wrists were shackled much like her own, his hiss as the vampire blood covered metal touched his skin. "You were a fool to underestimate me Carpathian. I shall enjoy destroying your soul until you become one of my followers" he taunted in his beautiful voice, one that enthralled Adriana on many occasions. "You will become like her, my slave to my every whim" Adriana knew when Xavier had sealed the promise when the scent of blood filled the moist atmosphere, her chest heaved and shuddered at the scent. Her mouth salivated wanting to taste the hot blood that was spilling into her Masters mouth.

Five months this mission against Xavier had taken, the mission to locate his hideaway. Xavier had found a small cave in the Alpine Ridge Mountains, close to the main community of Carpathians in Romania. Hunters had banded together to bring Carpathian justice to the people that had felt Xavier's touch. The women were unable to conceive female children, their race was on the verge of extinction. It was by sheer chance, though too late for most of their males, that human women and those of Dragonseeker and Jaguar descent were laced throughout the world, and compatible with Carpathian males through psychic ability. However the news was too elusive for some who turned their backs on honour and integrity, on their people but most of all their Prince.

Zacarias De La Cruz, offered his services as his last mission to destroy the Dark Mage Xavier. The thought was frowned upon by his four other brothers, as well as most of the already mated males of his race. Zacarias had truly lost all hope, and had decided on a suicide mission to regain his sense of honour before he walked into the dawn and allowed God to take his soul to a place he would call heaven; a place of colour and emotion. With his iron will he put his campaign fourth to Mikhail, and awaited the permission much to his siblings dismay.

Mikhail as well as Gregori were displeased with his decision, but at two-thousand three hundred years Zacarias had held onto life for as long as he could. The beast was too close to the surface, one more kill would send him to become the very being he abhorred; the Vampire. It wasn't decided on the number of kills that made a Carpathian lose his soul to the undead, it was the desperation of wanting to feel once more, and it appeared the more they killed the more they began to feel, even if it was the momentary rush it caused. The taste of adrenaline soaked blood that flooded their mouths. Yes Zacarias was far too close to turning.

It had been difficult, tracing the Dark Mage as he made very little movement of his own. It was by sheer chance that a ghoul had wandered into a cave bringing with it an urn filled with Carpathian soil. Zacarias knew in his heart that the Dark Mage was brewing more hell for his people. It was unsettling to think that Xavier was so close to the Carpathian people and none of the hunters knew of his proximity. Searching into himself he made his body small, pulling his bones inwards smaller and tighter, shrinking to the size of a rodent. Taking the form of a rat was the easiest form to use in Xavier's domain, as rats were in abundance throughout the caves. Zacarias moved slowly forward, testing the atmosphere before venturing inch by painstaking inch towards his goal.

He passed no charms, no spell-weavings, nothing. It was at this moment Zacarias thought he was wrong about the location of Xavier's hole. He wandered deeper and deeper into the cave, making no sound against the reverberating rocks. The tunnel split into two long deep furrows one was a deep pit of shadowed darkness, the other held a dim glow of a candles flame. in the body of a rat Zacarias moved down the tunnel with the candles glow, his first mistake. He stepped upon a shadows spell, one that pulled the darkness from the opposite tunnel and wrapped his small body in its inky depths. Zacarias felt the pulling against his body as his bones and sinew began to reshape and reform, forming the male Carpathian, the dispenser of justice to be where the small rodent once stood.

The ground beneath him shook, the soil groaning and screaming in pain. Zacarias allowed his eyes to sweep the ground looking for a sign that an attack from below was imminent. However it was from above that the viper vines dropped and injected the venom into his body. It appeared to Zacarias that he had underestimated Xavier immensely, the entire cave was nothing more than a trap. Wrapping hands around the thick chunky viper-vines Zacarias pulled them off, their fangs ripping viciously at his body, he stood there phased as his body was becoming numb, as sensations of pulsing blood was running from his arms and legs. The feeling of his feet disappeared, his kneecaps throbbing against the sensation. Zacarias followed the path to his brothers, and all Carpathians he had shared blood with, only to find that the pathways in his mind were slowly fading away, being erased _'Hear me, I have wandered into Xavier's trap, I warn all hunters to avoid this area' _the ice-cold chill that flowed into his mind told him all he needed. The connection to the Carpathians, to his brothers and their lifemates, their children, to the healer but most of all to the Prince was severed. Much akin to Jacques and Byron when they were betrayed by the Vampire.

Zacarias' body fell to the ground in an undignified heap, he could not shift his form to the winged Owl, to the bat, could not scurry like the rodent, nor lope like the wolf. Not even mist could form in his mind, Zacarias was grounded in his own body, and unable to call any form of his people to assist him. "You were foolish to believe that you, a single hunter could defeat me" Xavier appeared from the tunnel mouth at his back. "I have long ago favoured the darkness, knowing that light from candles flame draws you all to believe that is my location. Fool!" the ground shook and rolled as Xavier walked towards him, but Zacarias could move nothing but his eyes, so he stared deep into the silvered eyes of his target.

He pushed the thought of strangulation, of his hands wrapping around Xavier's throat and squeezing tight. Only hands wrapped around Zacarias' throat and began to choke him of his own air, cutting its path from his lungs. "Your Carpathian mind tricks will not work on me, I have immunity, anything you try to do to me, will only turn and attack you" Xavier crouched down in front of Zacarias looking into his empty black eyes "You're on the verge of losing your soul. How fortuitous for me. You shall belong to me, and I shall use you against your brethren" Zacarias wanted to rip his throat out with his bare hands, bathe in the blood of the Dark Mage that held his mind and body captive.

He felt as hands grabbed his body and dragged him through the darkness, down the other tunnel he had decided not to go through. Xavier walked ahead, sneering and muttering to himself, occasionally looking back upon him with a malice that could only be associated with taking out on every other Carpathian in the world, starting with the Prince. They stopped before a huge wooden door, Xavier's hands danced in patterns unlocking the safeguards that held the door locked. Was there someone else inside, another hunter lost to the evil of the Dark Mage?

Zacarias heard the stutter of another heart, another soul trapped by the Mage laying in the oppressive darkness that was a tomb. He felt the rage within him begin to consume his rational mind, how many hunters had been tortured here by this evil Mage? The scent of death lingered in the coldness, decay and rotting flesh were tangible, Zacarias felt the sting of Vampire blood coated manacles as they were affixed to his wrists, a sign that the numbness was waning. "You were a fool to underestimate me Carpathian. I shall enjoy destroying your soul until you become one of my followers" he taunted in his malicious tones, Zacarias believed that he was destined to be tortured until the beast within consumed his soul before he could greet the dawn "You will become like her, my slave to my every whim" Zacarias tried to see through the darkness, to see that the one whom he shared this crypt with was a woman. He felt when Xavier had sealed the evil promise when he felt a sharp rip at his throat, the feel of Xavier dragging his lifeblood from his veins. The scent of blood filled the moist atmosphere, Zacarias heard her chest heave and shudder, heard her sharp intake at the scent of his blood.

Having taken his fill of the rich blood of the Dark Hunter, Xavier turned to his other prisoner "I trust you shall get to know one another well, see he learns the rules, else you know the consequences" with that Adriana and Zacarias watched as the Dark Mage left. Sealing the door with the safeguards once more. Adriana remained still, slowing her heart and lungs to conserve her energies, she hadn't shared a cell in hundreds of years, the last was killed in a horrific fashion after disobeying the rules Xavier had instilled. Trina was a young girl from the village, one that was placed to sustain Adriana's life, when Trina attempted to escape Adriana had no other choice but to kill the girl before Xavier did. Adriana remembered punching her fist through the girls chest and extracted the still quivering heart. Before crushing the heart in her hand with no more force than a handshake.

"Do you have a name, so I might ensure your tombstone is engraved?" Zacarias heard her voice cutting through the darkness like a knife, thick with Romanian accent, throaty from lack of use; a bedroom voice. It made his insides heat at the thought, a feeling he had not experienced in too many barren centuries. "Zacarias" he answered. He wondered idly how long she had been here "Your name?" he questioned "You needn't know. I shall not be so foolish as to allow myself to be killed by your arrogance. I will kill you long before you have the chance to cause me trouble to my Master".

Zacarias heard her chains move along the stone floor, heard soft footsteps, like the soft sighs of a lost lover as she padded towards him "Let me see the wound you received, I do not like sharing my prison with a corpse." she snapped through the darkness. Coming closer to him. "It is nothing" Zacarias heard her growl in the shadows "you arrogant fool, it is not the taking of blood that will kill you. It is what Xavier places in your blood that is the ultimate suffering".

"You speak as though from experience" Zacarias answered interested in this woman. "You are Carpathian are you not? Have you not experienced numbness and immobility. The pathways to your people severed with an icy-chilled bleakness that leaves you empty and alone?"

He felt her hands on his skin, touching his biceps with gentleness her voice belied, the feel of her fingers on his skin sent curls of heat rushing through his body in answer. "You are Carpathian?" he asked needing to know how she knew of these damning feelings of mind and body. And if she were Carpathian Xavier would meet his death far more stringently than Zacarias had first thought to deal him on his escape.

"_Flames of life, that encompass death_

_I call thee fourth with thine breath_

_Light this place of eternal tomb_

_Like spiders that crawl from mothers womb"_

Small spiders flowed from the cracks of the walls lighting the crypt, flowing down the walls like living fiery blood. Zacarias watched with intrigue as they manifested themselves to the females voice and command, lighting the shadows to a mere dim glow, enough to see by. "Xavier has left parasites within you, they will burn you into madness" Zacarias heard her voice, but not the words, his heart stuttered on the woman before him. She was small and frail looking, covered in scars and bruises all over her body. She was manacled much like he was, the manacles chained to the wall behind her. Her skin was like soft porcelain underneath all the pain. Her eyes were golden in the firespiders glow, dulled through pain but nonetheless golden like the early mornings sun. her hair was dark like the night with a soft red glow from the firespiders, like a Carpathian woman, but there was a tattoo that sat upon the left side of her neck, that flowed to her collarbones and further down to her ribs; one of Mage creation, interweaving patterns that shone blue in the dimness as she called Mage powers to her bidding.

She wore bare rags, covering hardly anything of her lithe and small frame, her hands held more marks, like that of the tattoo at her throat, more designs, however were crimson in colour, like fiery flames licking at her skin, symbols of the Dragonseeker lineage on the backs of her hands. But prominently upon her waist from right hip to left were a pack of running wolves, each wolf black with a set of ruby eyes and blood red footprints promising retribution from the female that bore them. "What are you?" Zacarias asked, amazed. He could feel his emotions riding him, anger at her apparent lack of care, astonishment at the multitude of markings that covered her body, and a deep respect that she was the one to restore colour to his mind. "I am death to all races. I am the punishment to Mage, executioner to Carpathians, killer of Dragonseekers and soul destroyer of Lycans; My name is Adriana Manilov"


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER: 2/?

WORDS: 4222

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

POSTED: December 2010

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_In the shadows of the moon_

_She danced in the starlight_

_Whipering a haunting tune_

_To the night… _

_- Darius Dratazzanoff _

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"Manilov?" Zacarias questioned "No Manilov's remain, they all turned their backs on the Prince after the death of their only sister" Zacarias' black eyes looked at the young female before him, analysing her, cataloguing her eyes, marks and colour. She was incredibly pale and malnourished. Despite her frail looks Adriana lifted her manacled wrist to her mouth and tore into her wrist with her teeth. "Drink, my blood though death to Carpathians will keep you alive long enough until Xavier grows tiresome of you. If you are lucky you will die before you lose your soul"

Zacarias placed his lips over the pro-offered wrist but only momentarily, taking a single gulp of the blood the female could ill-afford and noted the unusual taste it held, he ran his tongue along the wound to seal it with his saliva. "Your blood, is poisoned" Adriana's lips turned up in a smile that did not reach her eyes "Really, no wonder why I am here," she commented dryly "And here I believed Xavier was trying to cure me". Zacarias lifted a heavy hand and placed it upon her ice cold flesh. Adriana shrugged it off "Do not be forward with me hunter, I welcome death, I long for it, I will not be swayed to a life of pain and servitude for much longer. The moment I am free I will run headlong into the dawn, and seek the scorching fires of damnation".

"how long have you been here?" Zacarias questioned, he began to feel the hot pinpricks in his gut as though the sun was rising within him, burning his organs with infinite purposeful pain. "I do not remember. I can see you are feeling the effects of the parasites, tell me how does it feel?" Zacarias logged her answers away in his memory to address them at a later date, but now it seemed as though the blowtorch was getting unbearably hotter, and more painful. Adriana watched with an unusual expression in her eyes, almost one that saw pleasure in his torture. Could this female be Vampiress? She was a Manilov after all.

"I know your thoughts, I am not Vampiress. I am merely curious as to how to the parasite created from my own blood, causes you such great discomfort. It is strange to see the pain in your eyes, instead of feeling it within myself." A sheen of bloodied sweat broke out on Zacarias' forehead as a wave of tremors took control of his body "the parasite was created from you?" Adriana watched as his body seemed to fight the parasites, but would have no foothold on conquering them. "Lie down" she instructed, but when the hunter disobeyed Adriana placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him to the stone floor.

_Stone of ice your veins the colour Blue,_

_I humbly ask a favour of you_

_From mine blood a fever doth take_

_A life of pain and servitude make,_

_A parasite created from the blood of she_

_To incapacitate life with evil glee_

_Turn to this hunter your cold embrace_

_Like lovers arms his heated flesh with ice I ask you, to lace"_

Zacarias felt as though the chill from the stone floor ran up his arms, pulling his natural temperature controls, cooling the fire from within. He opened eyes he had no recollection of shutting, but marvelled at the skeins of ice blue, like veins of living blood flowing from the stone floor all across his body, cooling the unquenchable fire. Adriana sat with her hands placed flat on the stone floor, her eyes closed in deep concentration. It was at that moment Zacarias never wanted to see her eyes shut to him, here in the dim light of firespiders glow, and the veins of StoneIce did this female seem cloaked in darkness and shadows - devoid of all colour.

Xavier chose that inopportune moment to enter the cell that held the two Carpathians. Adriana had managed to hide her talents and waning powers from the Dark Mage, in efforts to keep some of her sanity. Xavier watched as the firespiders scurried back into the cracks of the walls, as the veins of blue that cradled Zacarias' body began to seep back into the stone surface of their prison. He turned his slashing silvered gaze to the young woman, daring her to oppose him. Instead he stepped forward grabbed her by the hair, much to the hunters snarls and hisses in outrage and hauled her back to the wall. He gripped her chin in his hand and jerked it upwards to his.

"Manilov, you have been holding this power from me. You know the consequences of such an act" his fetid breath whispered on her face, Adriana closed her eyes tightly against what she knew was to come. Zacarias pulled and heaved against his chains in attempt to get loose and rip Xaviers hands from his body for touching Adriana. "silence yourself hunter, it is your fault that she will be punished. If you were not here, I would not have found this small amount of power" Adriana was forced against the stone wall her hands lifted high above her head in submission, her body trembled in anticipation. "I have not taken from you in some time, your blood was always so wild and sweet. I have missed it"

Xavier opened his mouth and tore into Adriana's flesh in her neck, Adriana grimaced and shrieked with the pain of the tear, felt as her blood was being pulled forcibly from her body to fill Xavier's. Zacarias thrashed in his chains desperately seeking freedom to get Adriana away from the Mage, whom was taking far too much of the blood she could not afford to give. Her head rolled on her neck falling forwards toward Xavier, her eyes unable to remain open and her body began to turn on itself. Xavier pulled his teeth from her, ripping flesh and muscle without care or attention leaving the blood to stem from the wound. He let her go, and watched with some twisted satisfaction as she slumped to the ground.

"hunter, any healing she makes on you, any surge in power that is used for your benefit will result in her pain and torture. You subsequently hold her life in your possession. You will be accountable" Xavier turned and left the cell, closing the door and plunging the two Carpathians into darkness. Zacarias heaved and pulled once more at his manacles that were biting ever deeper into his flesh. He was unable to shift to a smaller form or stream like mist to get to the fallen female he shared a prison with. He heard her groan and move with sluggish retreat. Cursing himself with what he knew he must do he used his voice, laced with deep compulsion "Adriana, you are injured you must come to me"

His heart clenched as he watched her numb movements, as she dragged her unreasoning body across the stone floor to him. She was too drained to crawl, unable to stand, but used her fingers and elbows to haul her body to him. Zacarias wanted to gather her into his keeping and never let her go. She managed to haul herself to arms reach, Zacarias grabbed her by her wrists and pulled her into his embrace. Her head rolled back exposing the wound on her neck, jagged and oozing her precious blood. Zacarias held her to him as he ran his tongue along the wound, beginning to seal it with his saliva, he needed rich soil to pack into the wound but in a stone entrapment there was none. It would take many risings to heal such a wound properly without the necessary tools all Carpathians took for granted.

Zacarias opened his shirt, and ran a long fingernail across his chest exposing and thin line of rich ancient blood. He lifted the female in his arms and placed her lips to the light tear in his flesh and used his compulsions on her once more to make her take enough blood to ensure her life. As her lips feathered across his chest and pulled gently at his blood, Zacarias felt the need to recite the words that roared in his head. The ones to bind a female to them for all eternity. It was ingrained in a male from birth, that once their lifemate was found the words would bind their souls together. Making the two halves a whole. Only a lifemate would stir the words battling in his mind to be spoken.

Deciding that Adriana had taken enough, Zacarias ceased his enthrallment on her and sealed the wound himself, he lay down on the stone ground and placed her over him, a heavy arm draped across her so no one would be able to take her from him.

Zacarias stared through the darkness, just seeing the barest silhouette of her form. He placed a hand upon her head, stroking the inky tendrils of shadow-borne night. He didn't want to sleep in enemy territory, so high above the earth, with no shelter, no safeguards, and no connection to his people. He was alone, for the first time in his mind, yet here in his arms was a fragile female, that was carved for him, kept hidden by Xavier. Yes she was somewhat insensitive and crass, but she had been held a prisoner in the darkness, experimented on by the Dark Mage, that she sought the dawn at the first opportunity she could get. She used impolite and disrespectful mannerisms to distance herself from feeling anything other than the pain and loneliness that poured from her heart. Zacarias tightened his heavily muscled arm over her, keeping the Vampire blood laced manacle from touching her skin, as he willed his heart and lungs to cease. To sleep deep and analyse any remaining connection to his people, to tell them what he found hidden in the inky darkness.

'_Zacarias…Zacarias answer you fool'_ Nicolas De La Cruz stood silently with his brothers; Manolito, Nicholas, Riordan and Rafael, as well as the Prince, his brother and the Dark One. None of them could follow the telepathic connection to the lost hunter. It just seemed as though the connection, if ever there was one, was completely erased from the source, to all it touched. Zacarias' presence was completely removed from existence. "He's not dead, Zacarias has been alive for over two thousand years, he would not be so easily fooled as to walk into a trap for fledglings. There has to be a logical recourse for this" Manolito glared at his brothers, wondering why they seemed so ready to give up. "We all heard the warning before the connection vanished '_Hear me, I have wandered into Xavier's trap, I warn all hunters to avoid this area' _Xavier is a master Dark Mage, anyone could succumb to his traps." Mikhail responded with, though he too seemed too displeased with this course of thought "It is likely Zacarias met with a resistance, fought and is somewhere healing his wounds" Gregori added, thinking as to the reasons behind the void, though the Dark One was thinking of acts against such a feat.

"No, it is the same as Byron and I encountered some years back. This is the work of Xavier and a Vampire. His mind is severed, there is no link to the Carpathian people. Until we find Zacarias we will have no idea of what exactly we are dealing with. Zacarias is close to the turn, we may not have as much time as we hope." Jacques clutched his lifemates hand as she balked inwardly at finding another sadistic Vampire and hoard of mass torturers that would inflict such pain on a man, like they did to Jacques and her murdered half-brother. "then I suggest we leave now to the last known place of contact and cover as much ground as possible before we seek rest from the dawn.

The male Carpathians each left their lifemates in the home of the Prince, Mikhail Dubrinsky as they took flight in the forms of raptors. The huge Winged predators flew together, their wingspans touching the warm under currents of the early pre-dawn sky, their lifemates keeping them tethered to their minds. They flew together in unison towards the last place Zacarias was last in, hoping that there were clues into the whereabouts of the missing hunter.

Adriana jerked herself awake, her head pounding, her strength drained to the point of insanity, but inside she could feel some semblance of strength that followed an unusual taste on her tongue. There seemed an oppressive weight on her small waist holding her down. In her mind she searched for clues of the ceiling having come down in the course of her sleeping moments. Then remembered the Carpathian male, Zacarias that had entered her prison, of the power Xavier had caught her using, his teeth ripping into her throat, and then crawling under compulsion to Zacarias. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable Adriana shifted herself to stare at the unmoving, dead looking male under her. Unlike Carpathians Adriana did not sleep the rejuvenating sleep of her race, she knew nothing of night and day, the height of day when all Carpathians were unable to move and succumbed to the weight of their own bodies until nightfall, she simply awoke when Xavier made her.

Right now she could feel the presence of the Dark Mage approaching. She assumed he wanted to check in on his latest 'experiment' and find out how the Carpathian male was adjusting to his new surroundings. True to form, Adriana watched as the patterns flew about in the frame of the heavy door, heard as the door creaked and groaned in protest of being opened. She watched with malicious intent as the Dark Mage filled the doorway with his opposing frame. "I thought he would give you blood to restore what I took. Manilov, come" he spoke with his old world charm that left no room for argument. Adriana felt the compulsion in her mind, the push of the dark smudge in her brain that forced her to leave the relative safety of her prison to Xavier's whim. Her chains clattered to the stone ground as they unclasped themselves from her wrists. Adriana heard as Zacarias took a breath and resumed the beat of his heart, as he felt her presence move away from him. _'for both our lives, remain still and silent. Xavier can trace our thoughts through the blood he has taken. I have been here long enough to shield him from mine. But you must not cause me trouble, we will speak about what you have done'_ Adriana walked in silence following her master towards the chamber deep underground in the barely-lit cove of what she called hell.

Adriana crawled onto the stone slab that served as Xavier's alter, under the compulsion of her master. The bindings were placed upon her body and tied tightly holding her in place. Adriana was not innocent to what was to occur this awakening, and could only brace herself, and the new presence in her mind of the Carpathian male hunter that would likely feel her pain through their connection. Xavier placed his oily hands upon her skin, his fingertips tracing the markings that adorned her. "I have formulated a new poison I wish to try out. This one will annihilate the Lycans from existence, switch your blood so I might try it".

Adriana lay perfectly still, allowing the blood of the Lycans within to overpower the Carpathian in her. The chain of running wolves on her stomach burned as the blood of the lycans raced for supremacy over her Carpathian blood. Her skin tingled as sable hairs, streaked with blue ran across it, fangs exploded in her mouth as she hissed at the pain the change caused in her battered body. Her fingernails lengthened to long claws, her eyes larger and more feral in their luminosity. "Adriana, daughter of the Vampire, you have long served me well with these experiments, soon I shall be God among humans with no other forces to stand in my way" Xavier injected the vile of thick green liquid into her bloodstream and watched with sadistic glee as Adriana lay there, waiting for the agony to commence.

Xavier waited moments, nothing happened. Usually his strains of viral infection and numbing nothingness came in seconds. It appeared as though this time he would have to resume his spells and concoct something more potent. "Get up and return to your cell" he ordered, allowing Adriana to stand and limp to her prison. Adriana made the safe-guards dance before her eyes to open the door, as she loped inside. Zacarias was still awake waiting for her return. He did not expect a Lycan to enter, and sit itself amidst Adriana's shackles. He looked carefully at the woman beast, noting the colour of her eyes and the small frame that held a multitude of sins. "Adriana?" He watched as she lifted her head to acknowledge his mentioning of her name.

'_As you can see I am part Lycan. Xavier was trying a new poison to see what would happen to the beast within me. Fortunately for me, nothing did_' Adriana lay down on the hard stone ground and allowed her heart to slow its tempo. Zacarias stood from his position and made an approach, only his chains did not allow him to get close enough. "Adriana, you are certain it had no effect on you?" Zacarias was met with silence as Adriana close her eyes and allowed sleep to claim her. He wanted nothing more than to be able to touch her, to run his fingers through her hair as she lay there so still, so silent. Instead he matched his heartbeat to hers and allowed himself to drift into the lighter of sleeps.

"We have searched this entire mountain range this rising and there is no outward sign of Zacarias. We will resume tomorrow". Mikhail announced looking towards the dawn, as the sun would slowly make its presence known in the next few minutes. "perhaps there is another range he visited before we lost contact with him" Jacques commented dryly hoping there was another area to search. The thought of being buried alive in the remote mountains of their homeland with no contact to family and brethren was enough to make his skin run ice-cold '_come home to me Jacques. We have faith in you. But now you must all return to us. Search again on the next rising'. _Shea's voice filled his mind as she allowed her fingers to run lightly over his body.

Jacques formed the Raptor in his mind, allowing the feathers to burst from his fingertips as his body shrunk and contorted. The raptor took to the skies above his fellow hunters and began to wing his way home to his lifemate. '_I will resume the search with you on the next rising'_ he sent to his brother as he left. Mikhail turned to the De La Cruz brothers "It still plagues him, what the vampire and human butchers did to him. He feels more than he shows, this is tearing him apart inside. But Jacques is right, we shall continue the search on the next rising. Sleep well and keep safe. Zacarias is strong he will survive and wait for us" Mikhail and Gregori also allowed their forms to shift, only they favoured the running wolves, as they loped away into the forest leaving Zacarias' four younger brothers standing together.

'_I don't like it, I just don't understand how Zacarias could walk into Xaviers trap_' Mikhail sent to Gregori as they ran swiftly to their homes '_Xavier is a Master Mage, well versed in the dark arts. It is probable that he took Zacarias by sheer force. We do not know how his connection was severed to us, even his own blood brothers, Xavier has been clearly experimenting on his ability to sever a hunter from the rest of us. Makes me wonder what else the Dark Mage has been doing'._

"XAVIER you son of a bitch, Xavier!" Adriana heard the whispers of a mans voice, felt the light stirrings of air around her form. It served to make her shudder as the breeze was filled with the icy chill of death. There was a sound of wolf struggling to breathe, its short pants filled with pain, seeking mercy. Adriana felt compassion towards the poor creature that was likely half gutted and left for dead to feed her and the Carpathian male. Adriana found she couldn't move, nor open her eyes which were too heavy, weighted down by the sheer force of the pain she felt coming from the wounded beast.

Zacarias awoke to the scent of death filling the small prison cell. He peered over to see that Adriana Manilov the Lycan was struggling for breath, that her body was shutting its internal organs down in the defeat. She was convulsing on the ground unable to hear his calls to her. Zacarias pulled at his bindings in vein as he attempted to reach her, only serving to allow the manacles to cut deeper and deeper into his flesh. With no way to comfort his dying mate, in his fear towards her life Zacarias did the one thing he abhorred, sought assistance from the Dark Mage "XAVIER you son of a bitch, Xavier!" he yelled. He called and bellowed as he pulled against his bindings. It seemed as though Xavier would never come to his calls, until he felt the power shifting at the wooden door to the cell, then watched as it swung open.

"What do you want hunter?" Xavier snapped, then his slashing silvered eyes cut towards the Lycan on the ground shivering and rasping for breath. "A delayed reaction, but nonetheless effective" he studied her, poked and kicked at her body, soliciting growls and snarls from the Carpathian opposite her. "Heal her!" Zacarias snarled "I create the toxins, not the antidotes. If the Manilov child wishes to survive, her own body will create the antidote, as she has done for the last seven hundred years. This is productive" Zacarias pulled sharply at his restraints "And if she dies?" Xavier smiled at the thought "Then it is a success and you will become my new experimental toy" his silvered eyes regarded the Carpathian with malice, seeing for the first time there was something far more dangerous about this particular male then previously seen.

Xavier kicked Adriana's body closer to the Carpathian "If you do not wish to allow her suffering, take her life. I am sure your soul can withstand one more death" with his snide remark Xavier left the two in their cell in darkness and left to recreate the poison that was killing the young Manilov.

"Adriana, open your eyes" Zacarias asked softly as she stroked Adriana's wolf face, Adriana did not move other than her chest as it laboured, he cradled her close then separated his soul from his body becoming healing light and energy. He flowed into her being, then pulled back as a wave of vertigo encroached upon him, her veins were battered, her organs scarred, poisons of every imaginable description were warring around inside her body like a mass chemical bomb. She was slowly dying an agonising death at the hands of Xavier. Zacarias was no healer, only the likes of Gregori and Shea would be able to fix this wounded female, but even he had doubts over their success with Adriana.

He lifted his wrist and bit into the vein, draping it over her mouth. "Drink and fight the poison in your body, become the true Carpathian Woman I know that is hidden within". Adriana drank some of the rich red liquid as it fell into her mouth, her convulsions did not cease with his offered blood as Zacarias had initially wanted. He sat upon the stone floor, holding her prone shivering body to him, stroking her mane of thick blue-black hair and waiting to see if she would overcome the terrible hell her body and soul were being dragged through.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER: 3/?

WORDS: 3453

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

POSTED: January 2011

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_Feel no sorrow, feel no pain,_

_Feel no hurt, there's nothing gained…_

_Only love will remain_

_She would say _

_- Jacques Dubrinsky_

_

* * *

_

"There is nothing here to insinuate that Zacarias was here" Mikhail informed his brothers as they checked the second possible Mage sanctuary this rising. This place like the previous was rotting, delved deep into shadows and filled with an abundance of depravity. The only creatures that the six Carpathian males happened upon were two Vampires, one that was easily dispatched with the justice of the Enforcer as Gregori and Mikhail entered the cave, the other had dispersed into molecules of mist as he escaped into the night air, only to be confronted by the four De La Cruz brothers.

"I refuse to give up. Zacarias is never one to simply disappear, there is something more sinister at play here" Manolito responded with. His emotions influenced the weather allowing skeins of lightning to light the blackened roiling clouds. "We aren't giving up Manolito, we just need a new approach" the six males stood together trying to come up with a newer idea when they were joined by Jacques Dubrinsky. "I am believing that we are looking in the wrong places, we are looking for depravity and degradation, what if Xavier is playing on our assumptions and holed up in a small mineral cave, one that is not filled with the stench of evils?"

"Possible, but the underground turrets would buckle and groan under the power of such evil" Rafael commented "There has been talk among Slavica's village that there have been numerous small earth tremors along the Alpine Ridge. She believed it to be one of our own. It is possible that Xavier is playing on our use of Earth and the land to reconstitute a Carpathians movements" Mikhail added thoughtfully. The seven Carpathian males looked to one another, the Alpine Ridge was on the borders of the Forest deep amidst Carpathian territory. Xavier could have been right under their noses and they were too foolish to have known about it. One by one the males launched themselves into the skies and winged the bodies of huge raptors towards their homes, but most importantly to the Alpine Ridge.

Gregori was the first to drop out of the sky and reform his huge body onto the ground, followed closely by Mikhail, Jacques and the four De La Cruz brothers. Subconsciously each male surrounded the Prince with their bodies, allowing no harm to befall him. Mikhail always being shielded by others simply allowed it to pass without rebuke. There were a series of limestone caves before them, old and abandoned, filled with the scents of stale air. Each Carpathian looked on filled with a slight certainty that Xavier could not be in these caves too close to Carpathians.

A spine chilling yell of pain echoed from deep within one of the caves, but subsequently echoed through all of them, until the entire Alpine range was battling for dominance. The males stood and lowered the sound but each recognised the voice with clarity; Zacarias.

Zacarias sat vigil over Adriana's convulsing body. It had been hours since she had regained any form of consciousness and he was starting to worry. Zacarias examined his sudden thought of emotion, something he lived without for the past eighteen hundred years. An occurrence that was brought about by the finding of a lifemate. That had his ominous black eyes cutting deep into Adriana's wolf face. Zacarias suddenly recalled that he had seen her golden eyes, the ice blue veins of the stoneIce and the warm reds of the Firespiders, and wanted to recite the ritual words of binding. Adriana Manilov was his lifemate, and she was dying.

Just that thought had him roaring a yell of agonising pain. Well over a thousand years of hunting and slaying the Vampire, eighteen hundred years without colour or emotion; a bleak barren existence. To be shown colour and emotion in the fleeting moments of his lifemates last breath; no. Zacarias would not allow his lifemate to die, Adriana Manilov had to live, else he would lose his soul in the midst of agony and despair and turn into the very creature he abhorred. Adriana's energy seemed to float about him, touching his skin with fingerless caresses to calm his spirit.

It was then that her eyes, her golden eyes opened only fractionally and looked at him with pain and suffering mirrored within those depths. He watched as her lips parted and moved with a breath of light air

_"Shed this pain and bring it light_

_Hear this agonising plight_

_Take this form away from pain_

_And create a anti-toxin for others to gain"_

Zacarias watched in amazement as the form of the Lycan dissolved into a fine mist, her soul releasing the wolf as it receded into her body leaving the Carpathian female on the stone ground shivering in weakness. "I haven't the strength anymore to enter my body to heal the damages Xavier brings upon me. I have fashioned a spell to do it instead. It creates an anti-toxin that is stored in my body, one that may defend and protect another should they fall to Xavier's evil traps. I may be the harbinger of death to all races, but I'll be damned if I don't have an anti-toxin to help them if I can. Xavier may be able to create these venomous strains against the Carpathians and Lycans, the Dragonseekers and Jaguar, but what he doesn't realise is that he's also creating the protection of all species, and the death of the High Mage himself" she spoke lightly

"I forbid you to continue to allow him to experiment on you" Zacarias ordered as he gripped her forearms tightly. He grimaced as his fingers easily touched themselves through her thinness and frailty. "Who are you to demand such?" Adriana argued weakly pulling herself away from him "You do not know me, and I know nothing of you. Be thankful that I do not kill you. I owe you a light debt for watching over me as I was creating an anti-venom, you gave me blood which influenced my strength. But you are never to demand anything of me, especially when you are a prisoner as much as I am" Adriana pulled herself free of Zacarias' hold and crawled away on her hands and knees to distance herself. Zacarias followed only to come up short as his bindings held him tethered to the walls. "Come to me" he ordered, Adriana snorted indignantly. "No, I am quite content here, away from you".

"Come here to me, your hunger beats at me, your wounds call to me. I wish to ease your suffering" Zacarias pulled once more at his manacles but they were steadfast and held him tight. "I will not come to you, my hunger is as always insatiable has been for centuries, my wounds are nothing but constant reminders of my frailty. I suffer at the hands of whom I belong to" she answered back "You belong to me!" Zacarias bellowed. Adriana's eyes narrowed to golden slits of roiling anger. "I do not belong to you!" she hissed, her once forgotten powers gathering under her skin brought to the forefront after having ingested ancient blood.

The ground beneath them rumbled and groaned, split in the wall behind Zacarias, caused shingle to drop in the space between them. Gold clashed with unblinking darkness, lips furled with the battle of dominance. At once the door to their cell burst open, a large frame filling the void, power radiating off his body in volumes.

The seven Carpathians made a slow careful approach into the limestone caves, walking towards the epicentre. It seemed to continue forward for miles, never ending, snaking and twisting in turrets that were glazed with stalagmites as it breached into a large circular cave bed, only to branch off into several smaller branches. The entire area groaned and rumbled as a tremor flowed under the ground, causing stalagmites overhead to creak and hiss with the current, then remain as though never touched as the tremor passed "It appears as though we shall be splitting up, I shall accompany Mikhail and Jacques down this turret, I suggest pairs down those two tunnels, keep all communication channels open and be on guard" Gregori ordered as he began to walk ahead of Mikhail and his brother down one of the more brighter tunnels. The four De La Cruz brothers split evenly and approached two other tunnels.

Riordan and Manolito took one as Rafael and Nicolas took another, all vowing that if they should happenstance upon their brother, if turned Vampire they would not allow the Prince, Jacques or Gregori to dispense justice upon him, it was the right of the De La Cruz brothers to take him.

Xavier flowed into the cell that was Adriana and Zacarias' prison, instantly the Dark Mage thrust his magic against the De La Cruz forcing him against the stone wall behind him with an audible crack. Zacarias growled and snarled in defiance of the Dark Mage, flailing his body about in efforts to release himself and pull his lifemate behind him in some semblance of safety. "It appears as though my stringent efforts have been made in vein again you Carpathian, Adriana is much weaker than you and unable to fight against me or use any earth wielding power, whereas you are far more stronger than she. I should have known you would be free of my hold on your mind, body and soul a lot sooner"

Xavier approached the manacled Carpathian, only to catch a word lingering in his mind "lifemate" Xavier turned to Adriana and studied her small beaten body, "her, my Manilov is your lifemate?" Adriana lifted her head at the conversation between Mage and Carpathian. "I am nothing to him, certainly no lifemate" she insisted but the damage of such wordings was already working through the evil mage's brain. Tremors flowed through the cave and lit the cell in a myriad of patterns in various colours, warning the Dark Mage more hunters were in the limestone caves. His eyes narrowed ominously as he studied Zacarias then Adriana.

"Manilov, merge your blood, become the Lycan" Adriana felt the compulsion race through her mind and start the change, the wolf came forefront in her mind, its crimson eyes glaring evilly in the darkness. Her skin itched and raced as the hair follicles rose and covered most of her flesh in a luminous moonlit weaving. "Manilov, there are hunters in our tunnels, destroy them, leave none alive" Zacarias heard her snarl in answer as she turned and fled into the darkness. "No, Adriana don't they'll kill you" he called out after her but heard nothing of her return nor heedance of his warning. "I am planning on it. After all without your tethering of a lifemate you risk becoming vampire, and with other Carpathians so close, you could be the ultimate weapon against them"

Xavier hauled his body higher and tighter against the chains, lifting him almost off the ground. Zacarias hissed at the pressure on his shoulder blades, as the muscles burned in aggression. Xavier smiled in sick satisfaction as he left the small cell, only to return with various weapons and viles of small liquid profanities. "you will turn, and have nothing to comfort your emptiness as your brethren kill your lifemate" Xavier took a sharpened stake and thrust it into Zacarias' flesh repeatedly, enjoying the pain he inflicted upon the newly emotional Carpathian.

Rafael and Nicolas edged deeper and deeper into the cave, finding nothing but old corpses and littered bones of small animals and humans. They growled at the sight of what once appeared to be a wolf, its bones crushed, its fur rotting off the carcass "these caves are certainly being habited by something" Nicolas murmured as he listened to the ground as it spoke in hushed whispers. It buckled and roiled as footsteps were echoing as objects were lurching themselves closer.

Manolito and Riordan had just returned to the main antechamber of the tunnels, having reached a dead end in the tunnel they took. The air suddenly became alive with the feel of oppression, of magic and evil pressing against their bodies. If Xavier was in these tunnels, he knew there were hunters in the area, in the turrets, it would only be a matter of time before he sent something against them.

Gregori, Mikhail and Jacques continued until they happened across a split in the tunnel. This one branched into a tunnel shrouded by shadows and one which was lit by the light of candles glow. Movement was heard in the tunnel with the dim light, that the three hunters took that to be the location of Xavier. They allowed their bodies to dissolve and form a light mist, before streaming into the dimly lit tunnel. They streamed further and further until they were thrown into shadow '_a shadow trap, Xavier knows we are here, turn around and return the way we came' _Gregori commanded, only they were forced from their states as mist and returned to their bodies in a vaulting sensation that screamed in their blood.

A deep guttural snarl echoed off the walls in the darkness "Mikhail get behind me, we are not alone in here" Gregori stood still calling power known to him to light the shadows and banish them. When the shadows were banished the three Carpathians stood face to face with a raging Lycan, whose eyes were feral red and talons that promised death. Gregori shuffled himself closer to Mikhail and eyed the Lycan who had yet to move.

Xavier sliced into Zacarias with a small knife laced with one of the poisons that was experimented on Adriana, she had writhed and cried out for days in sheer agony after this was placed into her bloodstream, but the Carpathian before him had yet to whimper, if anything to go by, his resolve was cracking as the bloodied sweat on his brow only grew more intense by the minute. "Cry out, yell, bellow, howl, whatever you do, but know that as you give over to the pain, the pain my Manilov has been forced through for the last eight hundred years, you are giving her the permission to attack your brethren in the tunnels" Xavier took another sharp implement and thrust it deep into his chest, it was all Zacarias could take as he yelled out in a wave of sheer anguish.

Rafael and Nicolas were suddenly against a hoard of ghouls, their flesh torn and rotting from their bodies, hands bent and twisted into claw-like appendages. They leapt and salivated towards the two Carpathians, intending to drink their lifeblood. The brothers banded together in a dance long forgotten by childhood and fought against them, ripping heads cleanly from bodies, shredding torsos into mangled bits and calling fire to hand to burn the puppets into oblivion.

Manolito and Riordan heard the snarls and yells echoing from the tunnel in which Mikhail, Jacques, and Gregori took, as well as grunts and the unmistakeable sounds of ghouls from the one in which their brothers took. The ground shifted beneath their feet, the stalagmites danced on the ceiling before crashing down in a dangerous killing frenzy, showering the two brothers in sparks of limestone laced with Vampire Blood.

"Lycan, we are no threat to you, if this is your den we will leave" Gregori attempted to converse with it, a male yelled filled with torture consumed the small tunnel, and with it the three Carpathians watched as the Lycan snarled, crouched into a spring and attacked with a fury unleashed from the depths of hell. Gregori met the Lycan head on, his hands clamping around the furled clawed fists of the Lycan in full attack. It snarled and snapped in his face, its saliva running across his forearms. Gregori pushed against it, forcing it away from the Prince and his brother. As he fought against the Lycan he felt it growing stronger, its huge hands beginning to crush his fingers and bones, felt as the talons dug deep into his flesh. Gregori snarled in the Lycans face and pushed harder against it "Back off, we intend you no harm".

Mikhail and Jacques inched passed Gregori and the Lycan '_you play with the Wolf, we'll find Zacarias'_ Jacques sent along the common path to the Enforcer following the sounds of male torture that sounded all too like Zacarias De La Cruz. At the end of a long tunnel covered in long vines that housed odd flowers that seemed to live and breathe was an open cell door, the scent of blood was in the toxic atmosphere "Have you had enough Carpathian?" the two exchanged a glance, that was the voice of the Master Mage, Xavier. And that would mean Zacarias was indeed getting tortured in the cell. Jacques took a candid step towards the cell, but the vines sprang to live, opening the flower heads to show fang filled petals that were stained crimson with old blood. _'how do you wish to take this one brother?' _Jacques asked Mikhail as they both looked on at the long trek towards the cell '_remember when we were fledglings, we were experts at duck and dive' _Mikhail countered _'I have your back' _Jacques nodded at his elder '_As I have yours'_ Mikhail took a run into the long vine covered tunnel with Jacques hot on his heels.

Gregori sensed the danger Mikhail and Jacques put themselves through and inwardly growled in agitation '_I swear if one of you so much as gets a scratch I will not heal you out of spite' _he sent to both the Dubrinsky's '_quit playing with your wolf and join us then' _Jacques sent back as he dodged another flesh eating vine. "will you back off!" Gregori snarled at the Lycan throwing himself into the standoff against the raging beast, the Lycan howled and threw its huge head downwards mouth open, canines dripping as it met with Gregori's shoulder. It clasped its huge mouth over his shoulder and bit down, hard, refusing to rescind its grip. The Healer also known as the Enforcer snarled in rage and threw himself into the beast with enough force to knock it off kilter and release him.

"Now you've pissed me off!" Gregori snarled as he launched himself into a full attack. He grabbed hold of the Lycan and twisted wrists and forearms against the bone effectively snapping them. The Lycan howled in pain as the hot heat of broken bones raced through her body. In her mind Zacarias snarled in aggression and attempted to take control of her mind and cease the Carpathian against her, but could find no stronghold on her mind. Blood dripping from her canines the Lycan hissed at the Carpathian before her and launched herself skyward to land atop him. Only Gregori dissolved into mist before she had chance, only to appear behind her and drive his fist through her chest.

Mikhail and Jacques dodged and ducked effectively from the flesh eating plants that exhaled toxins that made their lungs burn. They stood at the door to the cell, looking at the once powerful Carpathian hunter, covered with gashes, deep furrows and holes, his blood coating the stone ground below him. Xavier turned in his amazement "Mikhail, you are too late, you brought about your own destruction" with a maniacal laugh the Dark Mage erupted into a plume of smoke and was gone from sight. Zacarias was chained, his hands above his head his breathing laboured, his chest heaving.

Mikhail took a step to approach, but stopped suddenly as two glowing red eyes stared back at him, a lip lifted in a snarl. '_Get back he is Vampire!' Jacques warned along the path to all connected._


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER: 4/?

WORDS: 5172

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

POSTED: February 2011

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_In the twilight there is no difference between us,_

_The absence of the light becomes the dark ensnared._

_Our struggle is capable of destroying the world,_

_Without she, our souls are forever lost, _

_we hold and fight with no relief in sight - Carpathian males_

_

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_

Rage filled Zacarias' mind with a deep crimson stain and a deafening roar that could only be the beast within him as he felt the stammer of his lifemates heartbeat. He felt every bone as it broke, as heat rushed through her body as muscle and sinew snapped and was torn to shreds. On top of the already fiery inferno of her blood in battered veins and scarred organs, it was too much to bare. As he felt her life-force finally start to ebb and flow towards unconsciousness, to the peaceful arms of death he lost his resolve and gave into the call of the beast within his soul.

As he allowed the beast full reign, and the unleashing of the Vampire from its internal chains he heard voices within his mind, the voices of his brothers, of their lifemates, of the Prince, his brother and their women, of the one who's hand was plunged into the chest of his mate. All them calling to him, searching for him, all of them never stopping in their efforts. The emotion choked him that they would search unerringly but it was too late, he would never forgive and certainly would not cease until each and every one of the males that came into contact with his mate were dead at his hands.

One approached, Mikhail, he recognised him, he snarled in his fury as he heard as the words spoken in his mind were of damnable quality, speaking to The Dark One, the Enforcer, the one who was condemning both he and his lifemate to death. Then the words shimmered in his mind from Jacques, the beaten and scarred Carpathian that had lived through the very ordeal he and Adriana had been through for seven years and not lost to the beast within him. But then he had Shea to keep him tethered to Earth. '_Get back he is Vampire!'._

Zacarias could taste rage. Taste blood and death, could feel it in his fingertips, along his skin and through his bones, he heard his brothers curse in their language that he had lost the fight and gave in. He didn't lose he was forced, The Dark One was to blame. Zacarias pulled against his manacles, ones that no longer seemed to burn his flesh; his strength was renewed, he was renewed. He pulled against them with such force that the link above his head began to groan in protest, he thrashed about until it came loose. Both Mikhail and Jacques waited anxiously as Zacarias dragged himself towards the door, regarded them with a final stare of farewell then loped into the shadows.

The vines bit and tore at his flesh, gulped his toxic blood and injected his veins with numbing toxins and poisons, but he did not care. He wanted nothing but the death of Gregori, the one he once called friend, ally, brother. He knew he was being followed by the Dubrinsky's could hear their thoughts as clearly as he heard the Vampire's. he seemed to wander the threshold, was this the power of a newly turned Vampire? He turned the corner, holding himself, snarling as the smell of blood, her blood was stronger. It was then he saw him, the enforcer his hand still plunged deep into the cavity of her chest from behind, her blood dripping off his fingers and staining the stone a perfect shade of red.

Gregori looked upwards and saw the sight he feared most, another of their brothers turning Vampire. It was always a distressing moment when faced with one, a brother that gave in to the beast, unleashed it from its chains and decided to lose his immortal soul. But there was something different with Zacarias, he seemed to hold the Crimson glare of a Vampire, but there was murder in his eyes, and it did not touch any of the other Carpathians; only him.

Nicolas, Riordan, Manolito, and Rafael De La Cruz all rushed towards the place of their Prince, Jacques and The Dark One. What they saw made them all lose the strength in their souls. They heard Jacques warn Mikhail of the impending dangers, they all believed it to be a lie - Zacarias was by far the strongest, he was the eldest of the brothers and had more honour and integrity and would never give up his soul. Yet here he was standing off against Gregori, snarling, with the Vampire's fiery glare that meant death.

Gregori retracted his fist from the chest cavity of the Lycan, he heard the air rush through the hole he had created, heard the beast wheeze as it staggered forward. He would need his hands free if he were to dispatch the newly turned Vampire Zacarias had become. The Lycan moved out of the fray falling against the stone wall and landed in a heap of flesh and fur. This seemed to further infuriate Zacarias, which launched him into a full scale attack against Gregori. "Zacarias you are not yet fully Vampire, you must not give in to the beast. Return to your senses. Whatever Xavier did to you, allow me to heal you" Zacarias threw a series of flames towards The Dark One '_murderer' _he bellowed in his mind, directed at the Healer. His eyes flew wide in surprise "you have found the path once again, whom have I murdered?" Zacarias ignored all others completely his gaze centred only on Gregori as he gripped his wrists and dug sharpening fingernails into soft flesh. '_twist my bones til they break and rip my muscle and sinew as you did hers you monster' _Gregori suddenly realised that the hold on his wrists was very much the same as the Lycan's was. He allowed his obsidian eyes to cut towards the fallen form of the Lycan once more.

'_Perhaps you will shove your fist through my back also' _A strangled sound came from the slumped body against the wall, The four De La Cruz brothers watched along with the Dubrinsky's as the Lycan pulled itself on unsteady feet and launched unto Zacarias. Only it did not meet him, instead it was restrained by four Carpathian brothers, each holding an arm or a thrashing shoulder blade. Zacarias snarled and turned his gaze, suddenly seeing his 'brothers' holding his Adriana in a submissive stance. '_release her!' _he ground his teeth as his fangs exploded in his mouth. His knuckled cracked against Gregori's wrists, delving deeper.

_"Shed this skin and bring it light_

_Hear this females tortured plight_

_Take this form away from pain_

_And allow the Carpathian to surface again"_

Soft musical words lingered in the air around the Carpathians, the De La Cruz brothers felt as the Lycan's fur receded and turned to soft flesh in their hands, felt as the larger Lycan became nothing but a small fragile female with long black hair and the golden eyes of a Lycan. Her mouth was stained a deep rouge from dried blood. Her skin soft, ivory and intensely scarred. Each brother let her go and took a step away from her. Zacarias let go of Gregori and approached her gently. Each male watched on, wondering what Zacarias was going to do. She lost the battle to stand, falling into the arms of Zacarias whom held her gently, like a lover.

Gregori caught the stirrings of long spoken conversations between Zacarias and Xavier, and a young female that was scarred and bruised '_lifemates'_ that singular word hovering in the air. "the woman, is your lifemate" he did not say it as a question, but rather a statement. "I harmed your woman, I have acted out of brutality" Zacarias cradled her softly to him '_don't give in, that's what Xavier wants, don't become the Vampire. My father was a Vampire, you are more the man he was' _Adriana sent to him on their private path. All the males watched in silent amazement as the young female touched Zacarias upon his brow and spoke a simple chant. For all to hear:

'_Blackened Soul of a Hunter_

_Ignore the siren call of death_

_The hungering thirst - can be quenched_

_The enchantress of the night;_

_hath a twin in the light_

_Evil, will not devour your soul_

_Your haunted shadow return to chains_

_The True hunter of the people remains.'_

The seven hunters watched with amazement as a plume of light and energy erupted from the young woman, cradled Zacarias and engulfed them both. The atmosphere turned fiery and aggressive, as though a battle was being fought against souls, the soft sing-song voice of the young female filled the place with battle-words, enchantments and promises of light and honour. The light exploded and took with it every shadow that had taken hold inside the eldest De La Cruz. Leaving the Honourable Carpathian Hunter that had always been before he gave his soul to the beast. In his arms was a slumped female, Manolito approached his brother "Let us leave, you can heal your woman. MaryAnn was once of Lycanthrope descent she can help" Zacarias turned his obsidian glare against the Healer and offered a silent promise to him alone '_I swear if she dies, I will willingly turn my soul and kill you' _

Raven, Savannah, Shea, MaryAnn, Lara, Colby, and Juliette were awaiting the return of their lifemates. They knew beyond a shadow of doubt that they had taken the life of Zacarias if Jacques warning was anything to go by. Each woman held hands in silent vigil that would allow the blackened soul of a Hunter turned Vampire to traverse to a more peaceful time, in the afterlife. They each felt a warmth take hold of their souls, a light that was like a guiding beacon bring a stained shadow to the light and fill the shadow with love and serenity. There was another woman's soul guiding them in the odd ritual, they each had a sense that it was the deceased soul mate of Zacarias easing them into sending him to her in death.

Each of the women now sat together their hearts heavy with sadness that another brother had turned his soul on the light and condemned to a death that could have been avoided. The males each began to enter the home of the Prince, Shea instantly stood and ran into the arms of Jacques as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. Raven instantly stilled as she felt Mikhail allowing a smile of serenity to take a hold of her. Juliette turned to Riordan, Colby to Rafael, Lara to Nicolas and MaryAnn to Manolito. Savannah waited with baited breath for Gregori to enter, wondering why he chose to shun her from his mind.

He walked in after all the other males, his head hung low in shame and defeat "there was nothing you could have done love" Savannah stated as she reached to touch his face, Gregori pulled away and looked at his lifemate. "I cannot have you touch me Savannah" she simply smiled, knowing how difficult it was whenever he took the life of another of their brethren. But shortly behind Gregori Zacarias entered the home of Mikhail, a woman in his arms hanging limply. Each of the women in the home placed a hand to their throats as they looked at both hunter and female, a gesture of fear.

Zacarias placed Adriana on the table in the centre of the room, treating her with the utmost gentleness. The women each turned to their lifemates, a question burning in their minds. '_He is Vampire, you bring a vampire to the home?' _Zacarias' head snapped up and he growled at them "I am not Vampire, at least not yet, though that may change depending on the life of my lifemate" the males approached creating a circle around the fallen woman. "Shea will you aid her in your healing?" he asked as he turned his black eyes towards Jacques lifemate. "Of course, Gregori?" she gestured encompassing the healer to her side. "Not him!" Zacarias snarled his eyes glittering with crimson stain.

"Zacarias I am not a Healer of Gregori's calibre. I need his guidance, his assistance, why do you deny him?" she asked in kind as she allowed her green eyes to take in every horrific scar, bruise and lesion on the womans body "she has been through hell" she whispered turning to Jacques in her mind '_I am here little red hair, you are more than capable of healing her' _Zacarias allowed Shea to touch Adriana, fingering her scars that glistened like a starry canvass. Savannah stood beside Shea and looked down at the battered female on her parents table. '_Gregori, why is there a hole in her chest much akin to the slaying of a Vampire?'_ she felt his revulsion, his anger and dishonour '_I caused her more recent and external injuries, which is why I will not allow you to touch me. I almost killed her, an innocent Carpathian woman under the influence of Xavier' _

Savannah turned away from Gregori unable to see the desperation in his gaze "Zacarias please allow Gregori to help her, he feels guilty enough" Zacarias turned his gaze towards the healer "fine, but I will keep to the promise I made to you. You are warned" Gregori stepped closer towards the young woman "can you hold her soul in the light, in your mind?" Zacarias snorted "you think me incapable, I have been doing so since she brought me back. She is waning, and I am slipping closer to the edge of darkness. I suggest you hurry" the hunters stood in a circle around the fallen woman, their lifemates standing behind them in another circle. They each connected to the common pathway of all Carpathian people near and far, calling on them to join with the healing ritual.

The scent of healing soil and sweet grass filled the room, a soft wind tugged and played in the air. Voices, male, female, child and deceased souls all sang with the song of healing. Filling the body of the young warrior woman whom held the soul of a hunter walking dangerously close to the edge of darkness.

Adriana lay as dead on the table of Mikhail's home, the men surrounding the forms that were centred within. Their women standing protectively behind them. Gregori and Shea were beside the scarred woman, nothing more than healing light and energy, their warmth and power flowing through her meticulously healing as many internal lacerations, Scars and organs as possible. Shea pulled out first after what seemed an eternity. Jacques pulled her into his keeping away from the others to nourish her depleting strength and energy. Gregori pulled out moments later swaying lightly, his face gaunt and grey with fatigue. He lifted his wrist to his mouth, to give to the young woman whom was his patient, until Zacarias snarled at him, pulling her frame closer to himself.

"She is in need Zacarias, my blood is ancient and strong. She will heal quickly" Zacarias held her close to him, his own wrist rising to his teeth "You will not! I shall tend to her" he hissed. "Is that wise? You are walking a very fine line, you turned vampire we all witnessed it, despite her efforts to bring you back. Do you really wish to give her, your lifemate tainted blood?" Gregori responded lightly as if discussing the weather. Whereas internally he was issuing his rights as a healer to his prince. '_Mikhail, he is dangerously close to the point of no return. He already turned once, she brought him back, how I cannot fathom. She is in a deep healing sleep, yet he is losing his hold on his soul. For her safety and for the remainder of his immortal soul, he should be destroyed'._

Zacarias gathered Adriana closer to him, holding her closely, tenderly. He tore into his own wrist and allowed the blood to flow. Gregori issued a sharp command to Zacarias' brothers '_stop him, he cannot give her tainted blood' _much to their own dismay all four De La Cruz brothers grabbed Zacarias before he could give the woman any of his lifes blood. Zacarias thrashed about as his brothers restrained him holding his arms and shoulders, whispering counter spells in the language of the ancients to stop him from shifting to mist or changing his shape to something smaller. "Release me. You are my brothers!" he snarled becoming more angrier as he exerted more force against them. "We're sorry brother".

'_Gregori, we cannot be sure if his blood is tainted or not. He holds her endearingly like a lifemate. He has sense of honour and integrity, I can feel death and evil crashing within him like a storm, but I believe he will not harm her. If Zacarias is destroyed can you live with the knowledge one of our females, a Carpathian will have lost her lifemate?' _Mikhail watched Zacarias as his brothers held him close, noticed that his unblinking red gaze was on the prone woman lying on his table.

Adriana heard voices, snarls and breaking ceramics in her numbed darkness. It was unusual to hear anything other than her own whimpers, or perhaps the odd growl from her cell mate Zacarias, but this time there were multiple voices, male and female in her head all chanting together in a harmony that was unique and calming. Her body was warm, not the raging fires that plagued her every waking moment. But the fires were reduced to a warmth that was peaceful. It was then that she recalled with perfect clarity the Carpathian males that had arrived in the caves that Xavier owned. Of the torture that was being issued to her cellmate by their master and captor, of the compulsion in her mind to destroy the Carpathians in the body of the Lycan.

She felt as her body was snapped and broken, as a thick muscled hand was driven through her torso with such brutality that she choked on her own blood. She heard Zacarias yell as he merged his mind with hers, felt every impact on her smaller body, felt his heart break as hers was being plundered. Most of what happened after that became dull and unclear, the beast within her took over and began to fight with the last ounces of its strength. Although she remembered dully the counter spell she cast against a dying soul. Tethering it to the earth once more, a male, a broken hearted male with the crimson eyes of a vampire, tortured by lost love; Zacarias.

Adriana's eyes flew open wide in reverence, she was able to ground a newly turned Vampire. It had been only by sheer force of her own soul, by thrusting a piece of herself into the male Carpathian that saved him, that brought him back. Simply because Adriana herself was not Carpathian, but Vampire borne. Her blood and soul held a vital key to fusing the souls of turned Carpathians back to themselves. But it always cost her a great price. Usually her sanity; as she would live every death, every dark torturous moment the Vampire ever committed. She would taste the adrenaline laced blood of an innocent, would revel in the feel of taking blood during a kill, and would enjoy the moment only to feel her own soul crash against it in moral contrast which would hurt far more. Perhaps this time as Zacarias was not vampire for longer than an hour or two she had not suffered as greatly.

She turned her head towards the snarling, the snapping of teeth and the hissing of four grown Carpathian males holding back a thrashing Zacarias. His eyes were a deepening shade of Crimson, the beast within - the Vampire was warring for release once more. Adriana tried to move, but found her body leaden on a hard surface, Zacarias was draining her of her strength with the more he thrashed about in earnest against his four ancient brothers. '_Zacarias be still!' _she hissed through the mental link she formed uniquely with each of the Carpathians she turned back. His obsidian tinted eyes bore deep into her own amber '_they plan to destroy me. They believe me Vampire. They will sentence you to a half-life' _Adriana sneered in her mind at the thought pulling on some of the strength in Zacarias to lift herself up.

Mikhail, Jacques and Gregori watched in astonishment as the woman sat up on the table and stared at a non-thrashing Zacarias, as if she were communicating with him privately. Her eyes narrowed in contempt, to which she turned against the three males behind her. They all saw a sliver of fear as she saw Gregori, but simply pushed her small body from the table. She stood with the wooden counter between them, eyeing each of the males attentively "Release him, else I will have no alternative but to rescind my hold on his soul" she snapped eying the one whom thrust his hand deep into her chest. Zacarias thrashed once more to release his arms but was unable to break free. The Carpathians watched with intrigue as his burst of strength created a ripple of weakness in the female.

'_they are bound beyond souls. His strength is her weakness, I would imagine that it is easily reversible' _Jacques thought between the hunters in the room, watching the woman, but keeping Shea carefully tucked behind him. "I am not in the habit of repeating myself!" She snarled. Adriana deliberately allowed a chain to break on Zacarias to show the Vampire deep within him. She noticed that the scarred one conversed privately with the other two before her, before one spoke "Very well, Let him go" he ordered, and instantly the males released Zacarias. They stepped away from him, without turning their backs but trailing backwards until they were the other side of the table.

Adriana felt Zacarias' arms wrap around her, pulling on her soul, and on the chains that held Zacarias soul intact she restored the safeguards once more. '_Are you injured?' _she asked privately '_no, you are very perceptive of these people. They usually do not respond well to threats' _Adriana smiled sardonically '_I have leverage, I am not wholly Carpathian and they have no idea what I can do' _Mikhail lifted his hands in a placating gesture of peace "We meant him no harm, our healer was simply concerned about your health, I am Mikhail, you are a guest in my home" he spoke gently. '_She is weak Mikhail, she needs to be fed_' Adriana narrowed her golden eyes at the male "I would not be so weak if you had not thrust your fist through my chest" she hissed. Gregori looked to her in surprise, he had not used the common path of Carpathians to speak with his Prince, merely the private one yet she had heard him.

"you know nothing of me nor my talents, you state you care for my well being, yet your actions belie that statement. I do not trust you, nor your brethren in this establishment. I have long lived with evil, and even Xavier himself seemed less sadistic than you" Zacarias wrapped his fingers through her hair to keep himself close to her. '_do you trust me little one?' _Adriana turned her gaze upwards to the male looming over her. '_not entirely, yet I have chosen to bind your soul to mine and tether you to the earth' _continued to gaze upon one another "I have long lived in darkness and shadows, I promised myself that I would run willingly into the sunlight any opportunity I got. I will not be bound to anyone or anything ever again" Adriana spoke with complete certainty earning herself a hiss from the vicinity of the barbaric one "Females are worshipped as the wonders they are. They are special to us, we would not permit you to such a death" Rafael spoke up watching his brother and the female before them. She turned her liquid golden eyes to him in answer "you cannot and will not stop me if that is what I choose" she answered passionately staring each of them so they understood.

"If you walk into the light of the sun, I will follow you" Zacarias added, bringing her golden eyes back to him once more '_I cannot live without the one whom gave me life when I should be dead' _he sent to her privately '_I am not sure I would want you following me in the afterlife. You are annoying' _she sent him a lop-sided smirk to follow her remark. To which he responded with one of his own. "I have enough honour and integrity as a Carpathian hunter to do that last deed to save my soul from eternal damnation. I will not turn against the people even if you turn your backs against me" The four De La Cruz brothers each approached their eldest brother and clapped him on the back like they did as young fledglings. Zacarias smirked at his brothers. "Sorry bro," Manolito apologised "but we had to be certain, you would do the same if the situation were reversed".

"Zacarias, her weakness is stemming from her in waves, as is her hunger" Gregori added softly looking at the woman with renewed interest "I have always been weak with hunger, I have survived on bare minimal levels of blood for centuries. I am not as weak as you make me" she snapped at him, not trusting the silver eyed Carpathian. "Forgive Gregori, he is always moaning about female health, that he forgets his bedside manner" A woman with long raven hair and blue eyes voiced stepping out from the one whom named himself Mikhail. "I'm Raven, Mikhail is my lifemate, Savannah my daughter, and Gregori is her lifemate" Adriana allowed her gaze to flow to the one named Savannah, and wondered how she could stand being eternally paired with such a male.

Each woman introduced themselves with MaryAnn lastly. "Our lifemates are yet to leave the macho, chest-beating cave-men era. They can be a nuisance, but its mainly because they wish to see to our well-being above all else. I'm MaryAnn" she offered her name freely. Each of them looked at her, expecting her to give her own. '_You do not have to tell them if you do not trust them. But I have grown up with my brothers in South America, in the rainforest in that region. My brothers you can trust, and in accordance their lifemates. MaryAnn was once Lycanthrope. She became wholly Carpathian when she was converted. I believe she can still take the Lycan form, as can my brother Manolito' _Zacarias vouched for his brothers trying to put some semblance of trust in those around them.

'_what of Mikhail and Jacques?' _she asked quietly, still not passing judgement on his brothers, which made him feel more accepted '_Mikhail is the Price of the Carpathian People, he is revered and trusted wholly. He speaks no ill truths and always sees the light and goodness in others, when those like Gregori would not. Jacques is his brother, was tortured by the Vampire and human butchers until he lost his sanity. He had the traces of the serum Xavier used on me, stemmed from your blood within him ' _Adriana looked closely at the one named Jacques and saw the lines of tortured pain in his eyes, the scars on his body. "why do you wish to know of me?" she asked.

"Xavier has done the unthinkable, holding a Carpathian female prisoner from her people. If your family live, would you not wish to see them?" Jacques asked. A flash of evil cruelty skittered across her golden eyes, making them blaze hotly "No. My parents are dead!" she snipped, turning to Zacarias. Turning her back on those in the house. "I do not give my name to those I do not trust". '_take me away from here' _she sent to Zacarias. He pulled her close and lifted her into his arms, then strode towards the door. All those within the home made to cut off their path to the freedom beyond.

Adriana turned her burning eyes towards them all, imagining a demonic hand wrapping around their throats, preparing to squeeze the air out of those whom stood in their way, as she spoke in hushed whispers;

'_Manilovs lost to darkness and pain, hear the cry of your blood kin! Air as nectar thick as onyx blood, By Blood in darkness bound by shadow hold my victims in tortured pain!'_

Each of the males found themselves standing perfectly still, eyes wide open and mouths agape in a soundless scream of torture and agony. Their female lifemates each gripped their partners in distress as they watched their muted suffering. Zacarias looked at his lifemate whom had her eyes focussed on each of them, ignoring the plights of their women as they attempted to ruse them. With one last look, he walked out into the night with his formidable lifemate nestled in his arms, and a smirk upon his face.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5/?

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

WORDS: 3193

**All who left their windows open in the hot night,**

**Are nothing more than a fleeting memory.**

**Leave them open and hear our lure, **

**Meet the darkness shrouded in fear, knowing your demise is here - THE VAMPIRE

* * *

**

Each hunter was pulled into a vortex of darkness, a never ending chasm of pain, that shook their souls. They were united in this torture, yet they could not see one another, just the sense of soul announced their presence. In the centre of a shadowed crypt, filled with the scent of blood and death was a young child, chained at the wrists to the overhead wall. Water dripped onto her head, making her black hair oily and sleek. As a hunter took a step towards the child, their bodies shimmered into view around her form. One by one they appeared, looking at each other, trying to piece together how they got where they stood.

The chains holding the young child snapped allowing her small body to drop to the stone ground. Each hunter closed the distance to stop her from injuring herself, but her body merely disappeared as though it were never there. Deep Obsidian eyes and one a slashing silver looked around warily, trying to find some semblance of place, and the locations of their lifemates. "where are our women?" Nicolas hissed looking for his lifemate who was nowhere to be seen. Each of the males looked carefully, trying to see through the darkness.

"I have an inkling we are with our lifemates. Our souls have been pulled from our bodies, we are standing in the darkness of death, of shadow, of the Vampire" Gregori stated looking at Mikhail "I believe we underestimated that female with Zacarias. She holds talents never before conceived" A whisper of sound threaded throughout the darkness, filling their souls with the stain of dread. It flowed across the ice stone ground, snaked its way up their bodies and gripped their chests with a vice-like quality that made it almost tangible. "What is that?" Manolito questioned. Each hunter listened closely to the words as they repeated themselves in a mantra, a soft childlike voice, battered, torn and broken;

'**Deep Mountain Night**

**Devil heart endures all but light**

**A mad aerial dance of owl and bat**

**Carpathian, Vampiric soul dies**

**Through Manilov fury**

**The darkness so alluring**

**Dragons fight in dying night**

**Children scream a hellish dream**

**Release me unto death so I might live'.**

"It makes no sense" Rafael stated as he listened carefully. Each male began to unravel the mystery pulling apart the whispered words and trying to make sense of it all. "The female, the one Zacarias claims is his lifemate has found a way to turn Vampire embracing Carpathians back to themselves" Jacques stated. The whispers ceased and a sob of a child coated in blood echoed into the shadows. She sat in the corner of the crypt, hugging her knees close to her body, her oily hair snaking like painters ink falling down her naked body and pooling around her feet. Nicolas looked at the child, each of them feeling her pain of loneliness and sorrow. There was a body lying at her feet, mouth agape, eyes open wide, a hole in the chest of the male.

It was one of the Manilov brothers "Sergey Manilov" Riordan whispered as he looked closely upon the dead male that lay at the young girls feet. A male he knew well, one of the five brothers to Ivory, the murdered Carpathian almost sister the De La Cruz brothers had. One of the five brothers that each turned their backs on the people, blaming the Prince, Vladimir for not protecting their only sister from Mage resulting in her death. They each watched as the young girl kicked the body of the deceased male away from her. "I promised you death, and I gave you life. Only to take it away once more, in this deed I am no longer yours, but will keep you forever entrenched in my heart" the child lifted her head, and the hunters saw her instantly. She was no more than a fledgling; twenty to twenty-four years her face was covered in shadows, her eyes a dull crimson flame that burned until the golden motes crept back in place. She looked at the hunters, almost as if seeing them.

"Never underestimate me. I may be female and I may appear unworthy; however I am the punishment to mage," they watched in horror as power flared in her small body to unexpected levels. As markings raced across her skin like living flame. The mark of Mage burning on her neck, licking her collarbone and running lower to her chest and ribs.

"…executioner to all Carpathians," her eyes flared with malicious intent, the flames of Vampire.

"…Killer of Dragonseekers" blue flames dripped from her neck and shoulder and covered her hands in the flame circlement of the Dragonseekers, from fingertips to elbows.

"…and Soul destroyer of Lycans," a trail of running wolves ran across her midriff their eyes wild with crimson death, their teeth showing against her flesh.

"My name is Adriana Manilov, and I have marked your souls"

Raven, savannah and the other women looked at one another helplessly, desperately thinking of a way to save their lifemates from whatever the woman Zacarias took did to them. "Mother I am worried, I can feel Gregori's soul and it is weeping with devastation. I fear for him" Savannah stated wiping the now blood dotted brow of her lifemate. Raven was doing the same to Mikhail, running her fingertips across his face trying to ruse him, she even sent herself out of her own body to find his soul, but met an impenetrable wall of darkness and despair. "as much as we hate it, we will just have to sit this one out and wait for them to come back to us" MaryAnn looked out to the pre-dawn sky that was beginning to pale before the sunrise "I hope its soon, the sun will be rising and we will be helpless with seven incapacitated Carpathian males on our hands".

"Does anyone remember what she said?" Lara asked as she tried to think what had made their lifemates fall into the trap, surrendering their freedom to the darkness and shadow. "She said something like, 'Air as thick as blood' and 'blood kin' she said a lot to do with blood" Juliette answered as she resumed her body after attempting to find the path to her lifemate Riordan but met nothingness. Raven stood beside Mikhail and thought carefully "Manilov, she mentioned Manilov" she suddenly recalled 'Ivory, hear me some of our hunters have been shadow bound by a curse. The woman said Manilov. Come to us we need your guidance' Raven sent to the once thought deceased Ivory Manilov, lifemate to Razvan the torturer of Carpathians.

It was only a short while before two wolves entered the dwelling of the Prince. Neither one were usually in a position to be close to other Carpathians as they were feared because of their histories of death and violence towards their own kin. The wolves shifted until Ivory Manilov and Razvan Dragonseeker stood in their place "I am amused that the most feared of all Carpathians is ensnared in the shadow curse much like any fledgling" Razvan commented as Ivory touched each male lightly to gather a feel of the spell used. She sensed a feeling of pure tainted Vampire woven into the fragments of the shadow curse, but the underlying innocence of a female Carpathian bound to darkness, never to touch freedom or light; the touch of a Manilov. 'Ivory she is your blood kin, how can this be?' Razvan asked, never once releasing himself from her mind, always there as a shadow.

'I know not, I was the only female born to the Manilov line. Our parents were murdered during the Turk Invasions, she is more ensnared in vampiric darkness than I could ever have imagined' Ivory found a trace of familiarity that made her hiss in sheer anger "Xavier!" Razvan pulled her hand from the shoulder of Mikhail 'you are certain he is in her veins?' Ivory was seething with uncontained heat "I would know his touch anywhere. He corrupted this female child into a pawn for his own amusement," Ivory looked around the building "the girl where is she now?" Raven approached the two outcasts "Zacarias took her, he has laid claim to her being his lifemate"

"The irony, the De La Cruz brothers were much like my own brothers, I had ten big strong males always looking out for me as I grew up, I was their light, their compassion. My brothers turned to the vampire souls, condemning themselves to a fate worse than death and turning their back upon my memory. Whereas my De La Cruz brothers continued In life and honouring my existence. It is fate a Manilov is lifemate to a De Le Cruz" Ivory looked once more at the males before her "give me room, and follow my lead, give voice to your lifemates when I tell you"

'**Manilov child lost to darkness and pain, hear the cry of your blood kin! **

**Sister to the one whom fathered you, calls to your crying soul. **

**Air once filled with onyx blood, now filled with the light of Carpathian love, **

**By Blood in darkness bound by shadow holding your victims in tortured pain, **

**I release them from your tightened grasp and allow them their freedom of souls again!'**

Ivory looked at each of the women in the home and sent a sharp command as she parted the walls of darkness and sorrow, with enough room for light to breach the darkness and pave a way for the hunters to return. 'Now!' Each woman was a second behind the other, so the path could be easily followed by each hunter. One by one they re-emerged from their tortured states of mind and swayed into the arms of their worried lifemates. As the last hunter was restored to his body, Ivory allowed the dark wall of pain to crumble into the mind of the young female Manilov that was holed up somewhere with one of her brothers.

"Ivory, how did you know we were in danger?" Mikhail asked as he embraced Raven. "I called her to us, we recalled the woman said Manilov, it was a chance that Ivory would know how to take apart a curse created from another of her blood kin" Gregori turned to the pureblood Carpathian woman, the one who was scarred from head to foot from being hacked to pieces as a young woman herself "We owe you a debt Ivory. Do you know of this Manilov?" Ivory pushed herself into Razvan's arms unconsciously, looking at each of the hunters in the room. "All I know is that she is a daughter to one of my brothers, I could feel her blood as acrid as a Vampire, racing with the ice and malevolence of a wolf, as well as the dance of mage and the fire of the Dragonseekers. She has been a tool of Xavier her entire life, his touch was staining her soul. I will take your debt in assurance that you will not kill her. She is sired by Vampire, but she is not Vampiress, she is tainted with darkness but her soul is a beacon to light. If you find her, you are to summon me. I will deal with my brothers' child and decide whether or not she be destroyed" with her demands set Ivory waited to hear if they agreed. "The Manilov female is yours should we find her." Mikhail stated, watching as Ivory and Razvan became mist and dissolved from the home of their Prince.

Zacarias held Adriana in his arms, beads of blood dotted her forehead as she wove an intricate spell against the males in the home of the Prince. He was impressed with the power his small lifemate held, the power to hold souls and send them out of their bodies to a place within, a smirk pulled at his lips at the thought of the most powerful and feared Carpathian; the harbinger of Justice, Gregori Dratazzanoff was ensnared so easily, and by a female. Air flew from her lungs, earning her Zacarias' gaze once again to her face. Her eyes were open, two orbs of brilliant sunshine gold were staring back at him.

"I have never seen power such as yours, I hope you will not turn those gifts against me" Adriana allowed a tight smile to form on her lips "Don't ever underestimate me, nor piss me off. Tell me, there is another Manilov, who is she?" Zacarias thought carefully, recalling his once beloved sister-kin Ivory. "She was a single female born to the Manilov line, protected by her five blood brothers, as well as ourselves. Ivory was loved even when we could no longer feel emotion, nor love her as we once did" Adriana remembered the name, the Manilov that Xavier condemned to death. The sister of her father, her aunt. The thought of another blood relative made a shiver of ice cold fear shoot through her blood. "you need not be afraid, Ivory would not harm her own blood-kin, and should she ever attempt such, I would stop her regardless of the consequences"

"why?" Adriana questioned as she pulled herself from his hold. "Why would you start a fight with your brothers for me? You don't know me" Zacarias looked deep into her eyes "because you are my lifemate" Adriana hissed venomously "lifemate! I am not your lifemate. I belong to no one" Zacarias felt the ritual words crashing against his soul begging to be spoken aloud, begging to tie them together forever. However he would not allow his selfishness to overpower his lifemate. She would have to consent, Zacarias would never force her to be his when she had been a prisoner all her life. "I will wait for you to consent my claim, I will not bind you to me until you are more comfortable, but I shall warn you; the words are crashing against my very soul to be spoken" Adriana hissed at him, "I don't care! I will never be tied to another being, never!" although she was tied to Zacarias, she held his soul in her keeping, kept the bloodthirsty Vampire shadow pressed deep with herself to keep Zacarias in the light. And that scared her.

"the sun rises, it is time to go to ground" Zacarias waved his hand creating a deep opening in which they would lay beneath the cooling soil. "I cannot go to ground" Adriana whispered heavily looking into the cavity before them, a shudder of fear running through her. "Yes you can, you have never felt the purity of Carpathian soil before have you?" he questioned, knowing that Adriana had been captive in a stone prison for centuries, never feeling the love the earth could give. She shook her head, "I cannot go to ground, the earth will die, do not put me in it" Zacarias looked beyond as the light from the creeping sun lit the walls of the cave. "Do you wish me to put you under compulsion? Do you wish me to remove your fear?" Adriana turned her liquid golden gaze to the male beside her. A wave of gratitude flowed through her being, he was asking her permission without forcing her compliance.

"I cannot go to ground, the earth will die! I kill everything I touch, I slept on stone as stone cannot die, the earth is a living thing, it nurtures, it creates life" she spoke watching the deep chasm as though it would come and swallow her whole "and it also encompasses death, those who die are returned to the earth to begin anew, even the vampire cannot live without the earth" Zacarias added trying to still her fears. "come, I will show you that the earth cannot be harmed by you" he held open his hand, not reaching the short distance to Adriana, allowing her to make the first move, the first sign of trust. She did not take his hand but moved by his side and approached the deep void of dark earth.

The earth screamed in protest in her ears, poured rich stained blood into its inky depths, pooling in the crevice that would await them "No!" her hands wrapped around her small head as she sunk to her knees looking at the hole in the ground, shaking, shadows leapt and snaked towards her crossing the distance whispering dark secrets of death. "Adriana! Adriana look at me," Zacarias could touch her fear, it was reducing the air in the cave, the atmosphere was becoming heavy and icy cold as she sat on the ground rocking back and fourth her eyes never leaving the small sleeping space in the ground. Zacarias waved his hand and commanded the earth to close. He pulled Adriana into his arms as she cried out with alarm after watching the earth seal itself at his command.

"Adriana listen to me" Zacarias had no choice but to lace his voice with the tones of compulsion, she lifted her gaze momentarily from the ground to look at him "what has Xavier done to you, to make you fear the earth so? Tell me" Adriana released a hand and gripped his forearm tightly, digging her nails into firm muscle. Zacarias felt the mind-merge of their kind as she 'showed' him what she saw. The earth was no friend, but merely a tool for death. It rose up and caressed his body, only to kill everything it touched around him. Blood and death screamed from the earth, shadows of those touched by death sought revenge against him, he saw Xavier with sharp implements as they drove deep into his body. As his blood mixed with the soil it burned hot, until it screamed for mercy.

Adriana let go, allowing her body to rock gently to and fro as Zacarias fell onto his backside in stunned shock, her eyes closed as she commanded control of her soul once again. Xavier had used her vampire borne blood to lace the earth to kill the young, the weak and the elderly. Human, plant, animal and Carpathian alike were no match for the blood in her veins, it was a poison, an acid, something that had to be destroyed. Her eyes opened, the fires of vampire souls alight, she turned her face towards the glow of the rising sun, clambered to her feet and ran barefoot into the sunlight, into the awaiting arms of death and retribution.

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Hope your all still enjoying this Carpathians Fic Piece

Carpathian She Wolf

i


	6. Chapter 6

6

_It is the night of the last day, and the night before the first._

_The old sun has set, he will appear in the sky no more._

_Tomorrow the new sun will rise, and my siblings and I will meet him._

_Tonight…tonight no one knows._

_Everyone sleeps, held in surrendered darkness - Adriana_

Mikhail and the remaining males that had been pulled into the shadow curse of the young Manilov were taking blood from their women, when one by one their woman began to show signs of distress. Savannah covered her eyes, using her nails to start clawing at herself, as though she were unable to bare looking at something. Gregori shackled her hands, holding her against herself as he attempted to stop her. Raven wailed a cry of despair as she looked towards the floor of the home she and Mikhail shared these hundred odd years, edging away from the centre of the room as though there were something sinister awaiting in the shadows. Juliette covered her ears as she whimpered against sounds of the vampire whispering soft enticements to her, calling her soul to the lost and damned.

Colby and Lara, being related both saw the Vampire in their lifemates, the stain of evil that had them using the gift of the Dragonseeker; the fires of purity against them. Nicolas and Rafael both rolled in opposite directions and came up against their lifemates, both Dragonseeker women thrashed as they were caught up by their lifemates. MaryAnn heard the howl of a dying Lycan, its soul being shadowed and overcast by death and destruction that her own inner Lycan responded. She turned her bright eyes against Manolito as she saw the shadows within, promising immoral intent.

"what is going on?" Gregori hissed "If that Manilov female is doing this to our women so help me I will kill her!" he held Savannah tightly, but not too tight as to harm her, when she wailed out in despair "Please, please make it stop. Its too much. It hurts. The earth, its covered in blood, I can see their faces, eyes and mouths wide in frozen pain, pain I caused because I was too late!" blood red tears flowed down savannahs face as she wept for the loss of life, life that she believed was taken by her. "what do you mean Savannah, you have never taken a life. You are incapable" Savannah thrashed her head around as if her lifemates words were lies.

"the ground is covered with their blood, the earth screams of death! I cannot be put to earth! My blood, my blood is death, I am death the yawning chasm calls me for retribution, for more pain and suffering. I am defiled and thus so is the earth" Raven wailed as Mikhail held her to him as her lifes blood began to flow from her nose. He looked to each lifemate noticing that whatever the women were seeing it was all one and the same, but different fragments. "Fire, fire purifies all, it erases the stain of evil within my soul," Lara stated as she turned her blazing eyes against Nicolas a soft trickle of red forming in the corner of her mouth. "but it cannot erase the shadow of the vampire within me. I hold their souls, I purify the vampire only with death can they truly be released. The penance is my soul" Colby continued as though she and Lara were one person, the flow of red dripping of their chins as their lips cracked and bled profusely.

"Their screams fill the void, I cannot escape. Release me unto death, free my tainted soul. Take retribution for my sins. I am a daughter of pain and suffering. I caused your deaths and your tortured souls will not allow me peace. I deserve nothing but the screams and the pain as blood pours from my ears!" Juliette screamed aloud, her hands becoming stained with her own blood as her ears wept with a sound no other heard. Riordan held his hands against her ears desperately trying to find a way to make it stop. "my soul, my tainted soul cannot survive. I am losing the fight. My love and light what I once possessed is nothing more than a dim glow. I am too tired to fight, I just want to die. Allow my soul to die without another taint of the Vampire. It shatters my spirit until I am nothing more than an echo of myself!" MaryAnn howled as she clutched herself as though her spirit was being shredded.

'_healer hear me! Adriana has decided our fate she runs into the dawn and I follow' _Zacarias spoke through their connection. Gregori looked at each woman and for the first time a cold sliver of fear flowed through him that made him shudder. '_she must not!' _he got the impression of a wolf baring fangs '_she has made her choice as I have made mine. I will not bind her to a life she fears' _the women began to wail in pain as though the sunlight was heating their skin. '_stop her now! She is inadvertently connected to each of our lifemates, if she runs into the dawn she takes them with her, and in turn us. Stop her!' _Gregori issued the command, throwing every fibre of his spirit into the command to ensure the mated pairs survived.

He felt Zacarias take control of the young Manilovs mind, make her cease her run, sweep her small burning body into his arms and turn back for the cave. '_never use your compulsions on me again healer!' _Zacarias roared with fury. He had placed her on the ground and now looked at her unanimated face, one controlled by the will of others. '_open the earth and put her to rest'_ Gregori continued to instil his commands. '_I will not! I will fight you in this healer!' _and he was, fighting the compulsion with his entire being, allowing the reigns of shadows to be unlinked.

'_you leave me no choice hunter. I will see you on the next rising' _Gregori promised. He turned his attention to each of the males in the room "Follow my lead, place both Zacarias and his lifemate into a deep slumber. We must do this else our women will be lost" seven strong male voices joined together on the common mental path that connected to Zacarias and Adriana. More voices joined the whispers of command, and pulled one hunter and his soul-fragmenting lifemate into surrender. The dead-like sleep of the Carpathian people. As Zacarias and Adriana's hearts ceased to beat, Raven was released, falling into Mikhail's arms. Lara and Colby followed, Juliette and Savannah. Only MaryAnn remained under the enthrallment.

Manolito gathered his lifemate and held her close "She's dying, her soul is fragmenting and she cannot hold it together. Xavier experimented on her, and she can turn Vampire back to Carpathian, but the price is a piece of her own soul. She has turned seven back to whom they once were, only to kill them as the dark stain, the shadow overpowered her. She feels every death they committed, every sin, every act of defilement. A soul meant for light and goodness cannot survive in darkness and shadow. And turning Zacarias has taken the last of her strength" MaryAnn turned her blood soaked eyes to her lifemate. "you must find a way to save her, please" with her plea she too fell into an unconscious state in her lifemates arms.

A couple of hours before the sun was firmly set into the arms of the earth. Deep grey clouds covered the crimson stained sky. Mounds of earth spat high as heartbeats began deep within the ground. Lungs began as air flowed through, one set of slashing silver and six pairs of obsidian eyes opened to the approaching dusk, soon followed by the various shades of blue, green, purple and off brown that belonged to their lifemates. Each male scanned the area before he launched himself skyward taking to the air as the raptor with strong wings beating against the current, winging their way towards a turning male and his shattering unbound lifemate.

Mikhail, Gregori and Jacques led the way to the cave Zacarias was holed up in, still in a state of unconsciousness beside his lifemate. The other males; Zacarias' brothers were winging behind with Razvan and Ivory in tow. As promised when dealing with the younger Manilov, Ivory was required on this mission, much to the dismay of the male hunters. Aidan and Alexandria had remained in the home of Mikhail keeping the women safe and protected whilst they were busy with the problem at hand. Each male entered the mouth of the small cave, noticing the crumpled forms of both Carpathians lying atop the soil, their hearts not beating, their lungs not moving. They lay as dead. As Carpathian people did when sleeping.

Ivory approached her niece, resting a cool hand upon her brow. Her had came away soaked in blood, despite every effort to contain the young Manilov from shattering to pieces, the war inside her soul was still raging, and she was loosing the fight. "release her" Ivory commanded the healer. His slashing silver eyes took in the young woman one last time as he pulled the compulsion from her mind. She did not resume breathing, her heart did not beat, but her eyes flew open. Two crimson flames stared into the antique amber that was Ivory Manilov. "No-one interfere. This is my blood-kin. Her life is to be determined by me" '_that includes any form of assistance or interference from you Razvan' _Ivory added to her own lifemate. Razvan withdrew from her mind and took position beside the other males.

Adriana stood from her place upon the cold ground, and sneered at her fathers sister. "Ivory, you are meant to be among the dead. How could you be so selfish and cruel to your own brothers?" Adriana shuddered as her chest tightened, "You vile woman! May your soul rot in the depths of hell!" Razvan made a step towards his lifemate a growl of contempt freeing itself from his throat. Ivory shot him a glare to remain in place. "Whom is your father?" Ivory questioned, needing to know which of her beloved brothers sentenced a child born of their flesh and blood to be so condemned. "_was_, is the better term" she smiled sardonically. "Sergey Manilov was my blood father" she answered "and where is Sergey?"

Adriana pointed to herself "right here" she laughed with wicked intent. "I turned my father back to the male he once was. But fifteen hundred years of Vampiric depravity I could hold the stain of evil back for nothing more than a few hours," her hands shook, she fell to her knees as fought inside herself. "We fought, he ripped deep furrows into my small weak body, I had no choice. I pulled on his soul despite the hell it caused me, and I held him. I punched my fist through his chest and removed his blackened heart, as it lay quivering returning to the deep red of a pure hunter, the vampire soul in me rose and demanded his death. Demanded the kill. And I obeyed" her body quivered in convulsions, blood-sweat beaded her brow.

"Adriana, how can I help you hold your soul together?" Ivory asked as she watched her niece begin to fall towards the darkness. Adriana looked up, her eyes a blazing fury of flame and death "you can all die!" she launched herself to her feet, and ran towards Ivory with her talons long a lethal. Razvan intercepted, taking a hold of her wrists inches from his lifemates face. Adriana snarled in fury, rousing Zacarias from his forced slumber. His heart beat once, twice then hammered a rhythm in anger. His power boiled under his skin. "release my body!" he snarled as his eyes connected with his brothers. The power of the four De La Cruz brothers combined broke the command on Zacarias' body. He launched to his feet, caught sight of his lifemate in anothers grasp and bolted.

Zacarias wrapped his arms around Adriana and jerked her away from Razvan and Ivory. Her teeth snapped and ground against themselves, she thrashed in unadulterated fury, hissing and spitting. The flames of the Vampire burning stronger in her eyes. Her breathing was labouring, her chest becoming animated with every struggling breath. "control your lifemate Zacarias, else we will have no alternative but to destroy her" Ivory announced looking longingly towards the younger Manilov child. All males turned to Ivory "you are sure?" Razvan asked the question burning in each of their minds. "she is far too fragmented, her soul is shattered beyond any means of retrieval. If she does not recognise her own blood-kin, nor her lifemate she is lost, the Vampire within her has won, it is too strong for her to handle".

'_Adriana enough. They seek to destroy you, come back to me' _Adriana ripped herself from Zacarias' hold, turned in his arms and sunk her fangs deep into his neck with a resounding crunch as she pierced skin and muscle. Zacarias grimaced in pain as he held her to him. He felt her brush against his mind, a fleeting whisper of pain and suffering '_ground me to you through blood, I cannot hold on alone' _Zacarias stroked her hair tenderly. As his vision began to swim and gain blank spots he felt her being ripped from him. She was thrown across the distance. Her back and head met the cave walls and cracked with the force of the blow. Adriana lay on the stone floor, blood filling her mouth that belonged solely to Zacarias. But the blood on her head and arm belonged to herself. Zacarias found himself on his knees, not knowing how he got there, but unable to stand completely. He heard voices a man and woman "There is no other way, she must be destroyed, she is Vampiress, there is no turning back for her" that was Ivory's voice, she had condemned her niece to the death of the enforcer.

'_Adriana, no, get up! Get up Adriana,' _Zacarias commanded forcefully '_I cannot feel my body' _Zacarias fell to his hands his eyes unable to leave the frightened fragment that was still Adriana's soul as she saw death approaching. Gregori lifted his hands and gathered lightning into his palms, rolling it tighter and tighter. He felt his lifemate Savannah flow through him '_you must not, there must be another way!' _she screamed at him, Gregori forced her from his mind and closed her off. He looked at Mikhail asking without words once more, if this is what he thought was the correct course of action. '_Mikhail no! Please there is a small part of her still alive in there' Raven pleaded along their intimate connection. Much like Gregori, and with a wail of despair from his lifemate, Mikhail thrust her from his mind and blocked her. He nodded once to Gregori._

_The most deadliest Hunter turned his Slashing Silvered eyes to Zacarias, taking in his pain and anguish. He steeled himself and thought of nothing but the destruction of a vampire as he threw the ball of lightning at the woman on the ground._


	7. Chapter 7

7

_I dance out of time, I've done everything wrong,_

_Not regretting the fact_

_That today I'm like a shower that never fell_

_A flower that never blossomed_

_I,I,I - I am invisible_

_Our faces are like smoke, our faces are smoke_

_And no one will learn how Vampires conquer…. - Adriana_

Zacarias could not tear his slated black eyes away from the charred ashes of his lifemate. She had not screamed, nor protested. She did not close her eyes as she watched the ball of fire race towards her and consume her body. She accepted death as though it were nothing. And that is all that remained of the eldest De La Cruz; nothing. He had endured pain and sacrifices, held onto nothing but honour. Lost all colours and emotions. And now he lost his heart and soul. Only one lifemate was born to every Carpathian male, and his was nothing more than a pile of smoking ashes. "Adriana I have failed you". His chest was tight with pain and rage, his fist curled tight as he punched the earth roaring a heart-tearing howl of pain.

Eight Carpathian males and one female regarded him with a look of pity. It was never to be that a Manilov and a De La Cruz were to remain lifemates. It was fate that made Zacarias' lifemate Vampiress, her soul was tainted and shattered; she had lost the fight, but had fought valiantly against the darkness that claimed the males of their species. Adriana Manilov would never be forgotten, she would be remembered as the only female to have endured the vampire soul of a male, and lost the battle through the centuries.

A light breeze, natural but created began to flow into the cave, bringing with it the scent of fallen rain, tears and sunshine heat. The scent of Carpathian healing candles filled the small enclosure, as candles materialized in every crevice. Every Carpathian looked around them as a soft whisper recited in the shadows, the words were soft, holding a souls fragrance of air and wizardry. Words that were a spell of old, one never before heard on the ears of those in the cave repeated growing in its intensity. The ashes of Adriana Manilov began to glow a fierce red, the embers becoming hot, radiating a heat so intense all had to step away.

"_Rise from the ashes like phoenix death_

_Manilov child borne of vampire breath_

_Return to your body of blood and bone_

_Your soul intact no more to atone_

_Carpathian woman honed in hells filigree_

_Awaken, revive and return to thee_

_Child created solely for destruction, _

_Hear no more of Xavier's instruction._

_Blood of the Manilovs runs deep in your veins_

_Ruslan, Vadim, Kirja, Sergey, Maxim, Ivory_

_Within you their legacy remains"._

The embers that were the young Manilov reformed as they grew hotter and brighter. A silhouette of a woman lay on the ground coated in blood as her form shimmered into reality. Her breathing was erratic and strained, but she opened her amber coloured eyes and stared straight at Zacarias as she answered "You did not fail me, I failed myself" the power imploded, the candles disappeared the scents of earth and Carpathian healing faded until there was nothing to indicate there ever was. Adriana's eyes closed against the overwhelming fatigue, and to the stunned Carpathians before her.

Zacarias felt overwhelming pride in his lifemate. She was unbelievably powerful, a force not to be reckoned with. Mikhail and Gregori, Jacques and Manolito all stared at one another seemingly stunned for words. Ivory and Razvan exchanged a glance between themselves, his brothers all seemed shocked at her display. But Zacarias simply took to his feet and despite his fatigue and cumbersome body he staggered towards his fallen lifemate and gathered her into his arms, before he too slumped over her body and gave in to the trials and pains the night had revealed. Eyeing each Carpathian warily lest they take his lifemate from him once more.

"You cannot remain here. Come back with us, back to the folds of home" Rafael stated as he extended a hand to his eldest brother. Zacarias held Adriana's body tightly against his firm body, never once releasing her. Rafael, Manolito, Riordan and Nicolas each stood around their eldest brother and followed him out in the drawing night. They took the forms of the Harpy eagle, the most cunning and powerful raptor in South America; their homeland. Gripped in the sharp talons of the largest of the Eagles was Adriana, nestled amongst sharp claws, but held with sheer tenderness and admiration.

"How in the hell did she do that?" Jacques asked Ivory once the De La Cruz brothers and the young Manilov had left. Ivory's gaze was centred on the disappearing spot that was the eagles flying off into the distance. "I don't know, but I have never in my years encountered such power" Razvan held his lifemate close, offering her the comfort she refused to ask for, but needed. "I have felt such power once. When I was slave to Xavier, I connected with one of his experiments, a child; even my Lara was connected to her. She was always in pain, always writhing in agony. Xavier did unspeakable atrocities to her; he took her blood, and changed her genetics. He introduced several poisons into her body and watched wickedly as she would have to create anti-venom against the war inside her blood; else she would succumb and die". Razvan raked a hand across his face wearily as he remembered.

"One night she purged the vampire soul from Sergey Manilov, I didn't know then, it was her father. His evil was so true that the vampire soul consumed her; she murdered her own father in the pit of her cell. I remember this because I was on my way to Xavier; I passed her cell and heard her lose the battle in her soul for taking such darkness inside her. She lit a fire between her hands, one so pure it burned white, and set herself afire. Only the cleansing fire of the Carpathian people destroyed the vampire soul within her. I did not stay to see if she resurrected herself, but now I am sure she did. She is the same girl; older and more scarred than I remember".

"Let us find prey and return to our women, I fear Savannah and Raven will have much to discuss with us this night" Mikhail stated as he turned into the night, his brother and second in command following. Ivory and Razvan remained, looking at the blackened spot where the young girl cleansed her immortal soul, and the remains of Vampire ash still lay.

Fully sated on the blood of those in the nearby village, Mikhail, Jacques and Gregori returned to the home of Mikhail. Savannah and Raven were sat inside amidst the seven other lifemates as well as Alexandria and Aidan. It appeared that the De La Cruz brothers had not yet returned. Taking a deep breath ready to walk into the fire Mikhail opened the door. He was met with the sharp eyes of seven women. He walked with the grace of a ruler to Raven, who sat with her back to him, arms folded across her chest. "Raven, my love do not be angry at me" Raven turned her bright blue eyes towards her lifemate and said in words too soft they were strained "I am not angry with you Mikhail, I am furious".

Gregori entered the dwelling followed by Jacques. Shea leapt on her lifemate "how could you wild man, how could you allow them to kill a woman that had been far more tortured than you?" Shea's emerald gaze was boring deep into his soul, that he wanted nothing but to take her away and introduce carnal pleasures that would get her emerald eyes to flare even more. "I don't think so, wild man. I never thought you could be a merciless killer of women" Gregori was approached by his lifemate and expected half of what both his brother by mating, as well as Savannah's father were receiving.

"You are the most hypocritical, egotistical, self absorbed male I have ever been tied to!" Gregori looked at Mikhail _I had a feeling I would get the worst, seeing as I was the one to turn on the woman _Mikhail watched his daughter shriek at her lifemate, her hands flapping about in agitation "you took her life! Did you not hear any of us last rising, we were begging you to save her, and you killed her!" Gregori felt a stab of pain in his chest, Savannah would never understand. "Savannah, the woman is…" he began but savannah clapped her hands over her ears "I don't want to hear it you great oaf! I Cannot understand you, If she were vampiress then fine, but she wasn't, she was Zacarias lifemate for crying out loud. Lifemate!"

A low chuckle was heard from behind the berated males in the room. "We shall have to rile up your lifemates more often, it is sight to behold" Rafael stated as he sauntered inside looking for Colby "and you think you are getting away without reprimand!" she hissed. Aidan and Alexandria decided now was as good a time as any to leave, as they approached the door, they came face to face with Zacarias De La Cruz and a slumbering female in his arms "she's not dead?" Alex cried out in relief, earning her the cries of all seven other women. "No, but she needs rest" Zacarias held her close to himself as his brothers took their lifemates in a passionate embrace. Then he was crowded like a caged leopard. His black as ice eyes never left her face, but took every line, every scar into his mind and memorised it. He inhaled her scent, filled with the spice of mage power, and the light spring rain that was all hers into his lungs for safe keeping. He would know her by scent alone, if he ever needed to find her.

"Where have you been? Why did it take you longer to return to your lifemates?" Gregori questioned, his eyes roaming the face of the young Manilov "we were healing Zacarias' lifemate. The power of the five De La Cruz brothers restored, we each healed a part of her, and gave blood to our brother, so he might aid Adriana in her healing" Manolito answered as he held MaryAnn close. "I will take her from here. She has borne witness to enough for one rising. We will be in my old home on the mountainside, should you have need of us" Zacarias turned and took to the skies, Adriana in his grasp, held tightly and lovingly as though she would never leave him again.

"Adriana, isn't that Romanian for 'Darkness' why on earth would her parents name her such?" Juliette questioned Riordan as she snuggled under his chin, like a lazy jungle cat. "She is a Manilov, bound to Xavier as a young fledgling; she was likely named such by the traitors to our race. As well as being the daughter of a Vampire, Darkness is in a manner fitting"

Zacarias placed his slumbering lifemate on the bed in his home. Noting had changed in the seventeen hundred years since he last walked through its doors and regarded the interior. The same fireplace was sat idle in the centre of the receiving room, along with the table and eight chairs, the candle sconces shone as though they were new, belying their ancient state. His master bedroom that was below the earth still held the silken red drapes in loving curtains around the huge four poster, the pillows were still fluffed, and the comforter untouched. Now his lifemate lay in the centre of the red silk, her long eyelashes closed against her cheeks, a siren in his bedroom. His gut clenched tightly at the thought, his blood running hot as erotic thoughts raced through his mind.

"Adriana awaken so I might give you what you need to restore your strength" Zacarias commanded softly. Her eyes fluttered against themselves as she struggled to fight her way out of her drowsiness. She stared up at the tall, masculine Carpathian male towering over her, a small smile lifting her lips _I have truly scorched my soul and been sent to heaven _she spoke in her mind to the being before her. Zacarias lifted his wrist to his lips and tore into flesh with his teeth "Drink, take what I freely offer so you might become stronger" her soft lips touched his flesh with the lightest of touches, that Zacarias was not sure of her feeding, but he knew she was after her tongue flicked at his wrist. Heat coursed through his body instantly, the beast within roared for its mate, and the binding words robbed his mind of all sense, needing to be spoken, to tie her soul to his forever.

_Where are we? _She questioned as she looked around the small underground chamber as she fed from him. "My childhood home in the Carpathian Mountains" he answered. Knowing that although this was once his childhood home, his true home was back in South America amidst the Rainforests. _It feels safe _she added allowing the power of the safeguards in the chamber to fuse her with heat and light. "I will allow nothing to harm you again, that's enough" Zacarias placed his fingertips between his wrist and her lips to cease her feeding; he lifted his wrist to his own mouth and allowed his tongue to rasp across the wound to seal it with his saliva. _I must thank you for your loyalty to a shattered soul when even my own blood-kin thought me Vampiress, you believed in my own soul that was buried deep. You gave me something to believe in, hope. Am I truly your lifemate? Is that why you have such faith in me?_

Zacarias nodded but answered her verbally "You are my Lifemate, I hold your life in higher importance to my own. You were there when I lost my soul, when I became the very thing I have fought for centuries. You took me into your arms and purged me, gave me your light. Only a lifemate can put herself in such a selfless state above all else" Adriana allowed her head to nod in acknowledgement although the movement was strained. _I recognised the beast, I have fought it for centuries within the males I have turned back to their previous states. However there was something different about yours. There was no evil intent, just sheer will to protect _"you were in danger, I lost my mind when his hand ripped through your chest" they both shuddered at thought.

"I am not a very good lifemate, I have lost my soul to the Vampire, witnessed your almost death by the hands of the Princes Second, only to lose you to my own demonic soul to which the same male had to purge you through fire. I have failed you in more ways than one. Which is the reason I have not bound you to me as my soul demands" Adriana smiled tenderly as she looked up at him _you have not failed me hunter, I have been slave to Xavier for hundreds of years, fire cannot kill me it will destroy the vampire soul within, but cannot kill me. In creating the death of every race within me; he has also created his own destruction. I am not bound as most species. _

"You purged the Vampire soul from your own body as well as mine, how was such a feat accomplished?" _It is something I happened upon by accident. I purged my father, and took his Vampire soul inside me; it was too rotten, too evil that it took control of the small part of me that is vampire. I killed my own father, I fought against the darkness and knew only Carpathian fire could kill it, so I set myself afire, hoping beyond all hope that I would die. But my soul resumed on the spell Rhiannon's daughters cast upon me. they would never allow me to die. "_you met Rhiannon's daughters?" Zacarias asked spellbound, Rhiannon was the lost sister of Dominic Dragonseeker, the only female known born to the lineage. She was stolen by the Dark Mage Xavier, forced to have his children.

Rhiannon bore the Mage triplets before she was finally allowed death. Xavier killed Soren; his son, but not before he had fallen for a woman and had his own children, Razvan and Natalya, twins. Whereas his daughters were encased in Ice, in the forms of the great Dragons, never seeing starlight or the moon. _I met Tatijana and Branislava; Rhiannon's daughters when they were ensnared in ice. They told me of their mother, when I was first introduced to the pain of Xavier's evil ministrations. They fed me beautiful tales when I cried, songs when I screamed, they were my life in cruel darkness. Lara was not yet born, but when she was I shared her mind whenever Xavier and her father Razvan turned on her, I helped as best I could to keep some of the pain at bay. She was the little sister I never had, and at the same time never knew. I was devastated when she left. Xavier was angry, and turned his anger on me and the dragon daughters. I never knew what happened to them._

Zacarias held her in his arms and traced the silvery scars on her flesh "they live, they are safe from Xavier, protected by all Carpathians until they are fit enough to rise again" Adriana's eyes widened in response _they live! _Pleased with her reaction, he simply nodded, his own smile snaking across his mouth. "I must ask for your forgiveness, I am not the most fitting of lifemates but I will endeavour to fight for you. Always" _there is nothing to forgive. You were not to blame for anything; I failed you for not being strong enough to take the stain of the Vampire within. As I had not purged my soul after the last one some four hundred years ago. I was holding onto the rage and power to attempt to harm Xavier._

Zacarias' eyes turned to burning black fire "Do not ever Challenge the Dark Mage, I will insist on being obeyed on some things, but this is above all else!" _you will need me to defeat him _she answered not accepting his command, but not ignoring it either. "We shall see" he hissed. _I want to hear the words your soul is whispering to me, if you'll have me for your lifemate. Although you must be warned I am more powerful than you, as my blood is far different from any other Carpathian. If you take from me, as the ritual decrees you will be forever changed. _Her stern eyes shone in the candlelight. "I would take anything you offered and hold it forever close to my heart. Without you, I would be nothing"

Zacarias bent close to her and kissed her right eye slowly as he said the words commanding dominance in his soul _Te avio Palafertiilam _"you are my lifemate" he brushed soft kisses down her right cheek _Entolam kuulua, avio Palafertiilam _"I claim you as my lifemate" he lifted to the left eye and kissed that, feeling as her breath came out in gentle sighs _Ted Kuuluak, kacad, kojed _"I belong to you" once more brushed soft kisses down her left cheek as he recited _Elidamet andam "_I offer my life for you" he kissed the tip of her nose _Pesamet andam "_I give you my protection" Zacarias pulled away making Adriana open her eyes to him, he lowered his lips to hers _Uskolfertilamet andam "_I give you my allegiance" he whispered against her lips. _sivamet andam _"I give you my heart" feathering light kisses down her throat _Sielamet andam _"I give you my soul" Zacarias allowed his incisors to lengthen and scrape lightly over her pulse in her neck _Ainamet andam _"I give you my body" _Sivamet Kuuluak kaik etta a ted _"I take into my keeping the same that is yours".

Adriana could feel the light frayed threads of her soul, connect with his, binding them with light and power, fusing them together as one, as a whole. _Ainaak olenszal sivambin "_Your life will be cherished by me, for all my time" Zacarias removed her clothing in the way of their people so he could place his lips to the flesh above her heart as he completed the ritual _Te elidet ainaak pide minan. Te avio Palafetiilam. Ainaak sivamet jutta oleny. Ainaak terad vigyazak. "_Your life will be placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate. You are bound to me for all eternity. You are always in my care". To seal the promise of the ritual words Zacarias sank his teeth deep into the flesh above her heart, and felt as Adriana wrapped her fingertips into his hair, holding him close to her heart.

Words filled Zacarias' mind as Adriana spoke her own binding words, as her blood poured into his veins.

_Veri isaakank - veri emaakank. Te han ku kuulua sivamet. En han ku meke piramet ted. En han ku pesa. En avio Palafertiil. Ainaak sivamet jutta oleny. Ainaak terad vigyazak._. "Blood of our fathers - blood of our mothers. You are the keeper of my heart. I am your defender. Your protector. I am your lifemate. You are bound to me for all eternity. You are always in my care". Zacarias closed the wound and looked at his lifemate "what words were those, they have never been spoken by the female" he questioned, although he could begin to see the shadow deep in her soul, as much as the one in him lay. He could see power clinging to the air, charging it with light and mage magic.

_I told you, I am different to most Carpathians. I am nothing like your women. Those were the binding words between you and me. I will always protect your soul and defend it from the darkness, for all eternity for you and I grace the path of the Vampire with our light, and keep their evil foreshadowed from those who may be consumed. Adriana swallowed thickly, "with my blood in your veins you can help keep the males from turning, it will however come with a price. It can be painful, torturous and make you sick to your soul, but if you can help alleviate some small piece of the Vampire, you purge their souls for a longer period to find their lifemates. Do you accept this burden no matter how dire the consequences may become, no matter the cost?" Zacarias looked deep into her eyes and saw her raw soul, her passion, her love and her determination to save those who would be lost, like she did him. "I accept all that encompasses my lifemate, now and for all eternity" Adriana burrowed into him and held him close, knowing that she would be in for an eternity of pain and servitude._

_She had given up her soul to Zacarias, Xavier had demanded it and she had fought him, but her soul always sought those out who needed the touch of life and light. The Vampire. Now her soul belonged to the darkest De La Cruz, only he would decide if those he touched would be redeemed; only it would be her soul that fought the darkness, only his hand that would purge her through Carpathian fire. He would have to endure her death repeatedly, and each time he would feel it anew._


	8. Chapter 8

8

_She is the corporate Silence: fear her not!_

_No power hath she of Darkness and evil herself;_

_But should some urgent fate_

_Bring thee to meet her shadow,_

_Commend thyself to God! - Nicolae Von Shrieder_

Gregori and Mikhail stood shoulder to shoulder in the Chamber of women, watching as the females of their species wove intricate patterns into the soil, creating more mineral rich soil for the pregnant women. The Dragonseekers were the most important asset in the community, Skyler, Lara and Natalya each taking a corner and representing the power within. Syndil the Empath in the Northern most corner. They danced and sung, their voices pulling at the minerals deep within the earth staining it deep obsidian that glittered with the pureness they created. The heated sconces sung a song of soothing, as sweet grass and lavender was burned in the alcoves.

"I have never known magic like it, even when our mothers were alive; they did not hold the power our lifemates hold. They could not regenerate the soil like the Dragonseekers and Empaths could. Without these women our species would surely have perished" Mikhail whispered to his second and son-in-law watching as the women continued. The soil turned a thick bleak shade and shone like the stars, the women's song ceased as one by one they reached deep within to feel the treasure of their weaving. The soil covered one of the pregnant women, close to losing her unborn child; the extremophile Xavier had created eating away at the young girl's soul, forcing her mother to push the body out of her, into the awaiting arms of death.

Francesca turned to Lara, great-granddaughter of Xavier, the one mage born child that could detect the thread of Xavier's evil. Lara shook her head in defeat, upon her conversion, she had lost the edge against the dark mage, no longer able to find the whisper of evil that helped her purge the extremophile killing the infants in the womb. Destiny clutched her swollen belly feeling her daughter move away from herself, seeking the nurturing arms of death, away from pain, away from her mother. Destiny spoke to her daughter, begged and pleaded with her not to leave her, but the unborn child could not take any more of the pain. Her wails of a mother losing her first child filled the cave of women, filling each of them with her suffering.

"Destiny you must relax, you must keep your child tethered to you, we will find another way" Destiny's tear filled eyes sought her lifemate whom stood out of the women's circle. Nicolae Von Shrieders heart clamped in agony as his lifemate was unable to hold the life of their unborn child. Even Nicolae was faltering at holding the small soul to himself, he was beginning to believe he should just let the child go and hold his lifemate, swallow her grief and try again. The hum of the sconces changed in a subtle power flow as others entered the chamber of women.

"Mikhail, what is happening?" Zacarias questioned as he approached his Prince, Adriana tucked under his shoulder in a safe and protected place, away from all males. "Destiny cannot hold her daughter to herself; her body is rejecting the infant. In moments the child will perish, along with Destiny if Nicolae should falter" a grunt was heard from said hunter, his complete attention on his lifemate, ensuring her life and the life of his unborn daughter. Adriana stepped out from under Zacarias' safe hold and approached the circle of women.

There was a stain of evil swimming in the young woman's soul, a seed of Xavier polluting the womb and killing the unborn child within her. The stain grew darker and powerful as mother began to lose the fight for her own heart and soul. Adriana approached the circle and was met by resistance by lifemates of those within. "Manilov, you are not welcome so close to our women. Your blood-kin has done nothing but take life" Andre Asenguard spoke, as a non-mated protector to the women in these difficult times. Zacarias hissed low in warning, placing a heavy hand on his lifemates shoulder.

"Mind what you say to my lifemate. Else you shall never get the chance to meet your own" he threatened. Andre took a step towards the eldest De La Cruz "and why should we trust you? We all know of the conspiracy you De La Cruz brothers made with the Manilov brothers to destroy the Prince and the Carpathian people. Who is to say this is not part of the plan? You turned vampire, and she is vampiress, I can feel the darkness within her, just as I can feel it within you" Andre replied without inflection, but intoned it. Zacarias looked deeply at the younger Carpathian, seeing how close he was to losing his soul to the Vampire within. "I will not fight against you, you have no concept of what you say" with that the hunter turned his back on the younger male, dismissing him without words.

"Xavier has created a powerful evil that consumes the soul of the mother and child" Adriana spoke softly watching with heated amber eyes as the stain grew more sinister as mother and child fought together. "You can see it?" Lara hissed frantically, she had lost the power, but it appeared her sister-kin could see it. "I can, and it threatens to consume both mother and daughter. Xavier's pet is mutating within the host" Lara left her spot and approached the woman "help us to save her, please if you have the power to see it, help us defeat Xavier at his game" Adriana turned to Zacarias, silently asking him, to step aside and allow her to show him what she was created for.

Ivory and Razvan soon entered the cave upon the summons of Raven, Mikhail's wife. "Ivory you are needed with the women, every voice is required to purge the evil of Xavier from this hallowed place of healing and life" Ivory moved to where the Prince's lifemate told her to stand, but her heated amber eyes never left the face of her niece. Adriana moved around the body of the sobbing female, feeling the negative power of Xavier flowing from her body and soul. She circled her, repeatedly looking for the slightest rise. When she found it she called to Syndill "Earth singer, take this place, you will begin this circle of power, call to you the power of the earth in song, when I tell you" Adriana continued to walked in a anti-clockwise ring, and stopped once more when the power was strongest, she turned her burning golden eyes to Skyler "young Dragonseeker, stand here, your soul is lighter than air, it whispers of serenity, whisper your song, when I tell you".

Continuing in her search Adriana continued "what is she doing?" Gregori asked Zacarias as he watched carefully, memorising her movements, her subtle fluctuation of power against the unseen darkness. "building the power of the elements. She is using a mage trap against the Dark Mage. Turning his own power against him" Adriana stopped her slow movement and called Natalya "granddaughter to the Dark Mage, your soul is filled with Dragons fire, the song of scorching fire is within you, allow your voice to rise when I tell you" Natalya smiled at the young Manilov "I wish I had thought of what you have planned, Xavier will not know what hit him" Natalya stood tall and proud, her blue-green eyes meeting with her twin, Razvan. Adriana ceased and felt the power of the twins "Twin to the dragons song, enter this circle of power, stand beside your sister. The song is fiercer with the two of you combined, you will be the gateway to power; hells gate will be opened with flames, but you must allow your souls to sing together"

Taking her breath deep into her lungs she continued pulling at the power finding the next fluctuation. To which she turned her power to Lara "Mage-born Dragon-daughter your soul is filled with the glacial waters, your song is of pure ice. Sing your frozen song when I tell you" Nicolas made a move against the Manilov when his lifemate was placed in a circle of power he was unfamiliar with. "Brother, can your lifemate be trusted? She is Manilov and she has belonged to Xavier all of her life" Zacarias levelled his younger brother with a look that spoke of anger and hatred. "My lifemate is Manilov, and I accept her for whom and what she is. She is not to be judged by the blood in her veins. As it stands your own lifemate had belonged to Xavier at some point in her life, as had Razvan, Ivory and Natalya" Adriana continued and felt the final surge in the circle. She turned to Ivory and beckoned to her blood-kin "Blood of the Manilovs, honed in Xavier's hell are powerful enough to take this evil and purge it from this circle. You studied under the Dark Mage, and know when his power flows, when to weave the safeguards and hold each songs power, I will need you to be our anchor, it will not be uncomplicated, as soon as Xavier is aware he will fight against you, with everything in his arsenal"

Ivory nodded in acknowledgment, knowing what her brother's daughter planned. It was a risky and powerful mage-fuelled circle, one created by the mixed races that would never have been thought of had Adriana not been the experimental 'toy' of the Dark Mage's. Adriana turned to those outside the circle. "Do not enter, do not interfere. If you do all we have done, all we have accomplished will be for nothing, and the consequences are deadly" she looked her lifemate _I need you to centre me, you will be my guiding beacon. This will be the test, whether you can truly accept our union and purge darkness with me. Our path will be paved in pain, and only you can bring me back. _she did not wait for Zacarias to answer but turned her voice to the circle and the sobbing female within.

"_Mother Earth, we your sons and daughters sing to thee, purge this evil within this woman, give life when darkness seeks death_" Adriana turned to Syndill and gave her the signal to sing the song of her soul. "_Mother Earth, I am your loving daughter, my soul sings the song within, I sing your words and bring life as you decree_" Syndill stomped her bare feet in the earth, the scent of flowers rose around the cave, sweet and powerful aromas that aided in the art of healing. Adriana gave the same signal to Skyler to sing her song, Skyler's bare feet danced her own rhythm, the rhythm of her soul song _Mother Earth, I am your loving daughter, my heart and soul as light as Air, sings for the life of the one within our circle _the soft breeze of a oceans wind blew into the cave caressing the scents of the Earth and becoming one.

Gregori, Mikhail and all the males in attendance watched with fascination as the power of the Carpathian females within fuelled the circle and began to purge the scents of death, as Ivory's hands danced and flew in the air, creating weavings contrasting to the colour of the Elements being invoked. Zacarias saw with his new sight, the way the shadows sought the elements that had yet to be sung. Adriana was trapping the darkness without escape. They each watched as she turned her gaze to the Dragonseeker twins. Razvan and Natalya took each others hands and danced together in harmony on the soft ground. _Mother Earth, we are your humble twins, we sing the song of heat and light. Our souls aflame and scorching the shadows from your realm_ as they danced, their patterns with their feet, flames sprung up and danced over their bodies without burning them, again Ivory caught the mage weave and created a holding spell, allowing the Fiery reds and Oranges to join with the Greens and Yellows already floating in the air. Virkinoff held his breath, watching his lifemate dance with her brother, completely entranced in the spell-weaving created by the younger Manilov. The cave heated with the flame, whirred with the soft salted breeze and created a warming scent of soothing lavender.

Destiny's sobs had stopped, her eyes watching the spell-weaving going on around her, her hands holding her swollen belly with gentleness, a light smile upon her face as she could feel the power working around her. Adriana turned her gaze to Lara, much to Nicolae's dismay Lara allowed her body to sway with grace, her feet to slide across the ground in the patterns of her song _Mother Earth, I am your obliging daughter. I sing the graceful notes of heavens tears, water of your love swims and flows through me to your child within our circle._ The icy chill of ice mixed with the heat of fire and created the fresh scent of frozen water; icicles hung from the walls around Lara and glistened with soft blue light, Ivory caught up the weave and added it to the other three, her lips whispering the spell her hands flying gracefully. Lastly Adriana turned to her blood-aunt, sister to her father. "I trust in you to weave the safeguards and guide our power into the circle and cleanse this female from the shadows of Xavier".

Ivory nodded and stood behind her niece as she began to dance with the others _Mother Earth, I am your hidden daughter, I am spirit and seek your love of life to cleanse this fallen child from your bosom. Cleanse the stain that shadows her soul. Allow the earth to soothe her, the air to renew the life within her womb, the fire to scorch the shadows from her heart, waters to wash away her bloodstained tears; permit the spirit to take into itself the stain and darkness and restore her to you, our mother. _Adriana lifted her hands as Ivory spun the shadows into the intricate weavings as they left Destiny in a wash of Stained Violet light that stemmed from Adriana, as they wrapped and pulled from Destiny and flowed back into her niece. Zacarias watched in horror as his lifemate took into herself the evil stain of Xavier. _No! _He bellowed, all Carpathians in the chamber of women and in the surrounding forest heard his heart torn plea.

_You are my beacon, the light which guides me back to my own soul. This is my destiny, Xavier created me to be the ultimate weapon against him, and this is what I am. You have to accept this, don't fight me in this, I will need your voice and those of the males around you, you must command them, help me, you are my lifemate, my partner. _Zacarias trusted his lifemate implicitly and turned to the males in the chamber of women. "Mikhail call to arms, Adriana needs every man, woman and child if she is to purge the stain of Xavier. She is building the power, and needs everyone, those that cannot be here in flesh must be held onto in their minds, we must be united as a race, this is no small task" Mikhail looked into the eyes of Gregori, who was staring intently at the younger Manilov as she wove great power. "I agree, I can feel what she is doing from the black books I have studied in my youth, she is pitting everything Xavier has done against him in one swift attack. I say call everyone available, she has the power"

'_Every male, female and child come to the chamber of women, your Prince commands your presence, for those of you too far, open your minds and do exactly as Zacarias commands' _Mikhail called into the night along the path of the Carpathian people. Within moments mists shimmered into place, wolves sang into tune, raptors of every form flew in the open spaces and filled the walls as wolves filled the cave floors. "Adriana Manilov has found a way to push the curse of Xavier; she needs the unity of the Carpathian People. Lend her your voices and do as Zacarias, Ivory and she instructs" there were a few whispers of the task at hand and of the females the Prince was throwing his trust to. Raven and Savannah stood besides their lifemates and watched as Ivory built the safeguards to hold the invoked power around Destiny. It shimmered in the colours of the Elements, of the deep Violet evil that was pulled from the woman in the centre.

Adriana took a deep breath and sang her song of soul and spirit, the darkness of the Vampires daughter in the midst of her own people. Always shunned and never accepted. She spun low and swayed to the song within and waited until the elements around her connected and filled the emptiness.

_It won't help if you wait for me.I'm a slave to the - dark.I Know I'm not saint, you Dawn is when it the shadow of my oblivion - hoping mercy would show her face,on the road to your own perdition in the coal-blackened rain._

Lara danced low, her feet pounding the song of Ice water as she connected to Adriana through the pain of her fathers betrayal upon her as a young child, as she was frozen within the ice of Xavier's caves

_Frozen in time yearning forbidden and divine._

Razvan looked to his daughter, as Fires dance entwined with the dance of water. Natalya and Razvan allowed fires creeping light to ripple and sway with ice waters breath. Lara's father touched her wrists, tracing his own teeth marks upon her flesh,

_Scars of my broken kisses._

Natalya danced in perfect unison with Razvan as she asked the question burning in the minds of those long lost to the darkness, to Xavier and beast within the souls of those yet to find their lifemates.

_What will follow if tomorrow's blind?_

Syndill wove the flowers into soft creeping vines, connecting each dancer to the woman in the centre, covered with the blackened soil of their homeland. And extended to touch upon those outside the circle, to give them voice to the power being pulled and fashioned as she voiced her answer to the song of fire, the words of Mother Earth herself, a promise to her children.

_My eternal night._

Ivory held the safeguards and wove with them, her own mage taught power, she cast her eyes to the men, women and fledglings in the women's chamber as they watched, some horrified, some awed, most without expression "sing the lullaby of the people, Carpathians unite. Hold destiny's child to her womb, aid us in our plight" the Carpathian lullaby rose from the silence, filling the cave with power and song, Nicolae held his lifemate and unborn daughter to his own soul, and allowed the feel of the combined power to fill him. _Sing the song Destiny, sing to our daughter, hold her to us _Destiny sung as the pain of her own body rejecting her child eased with the elemental dance around her, the tightness of Xavier's evil was releasing her, she was nestled and cocooned in soft nurturing light.

Skyler moved in the soft dance of the others as she felt her hearts song join those of her father and sister, she spun herself and released the energies within, feeling her connection with her own lifemate, Dimitri.

_As the wind takes me away from you - before the morning sins are fading into view - I'm so weary deep inside_

Adriana held them to herself, pulling on the powers of Air, water and fire within the Dragonseekers. She drew the power of the Dragonseeker within herself, combining the strength against the shadow of Xavier within each of the souls in the chamber, needing only the light and purity. Every male and female in the chamber had been touched by Xavier, and each needed to be purged. She changed the flow of her blood and incorporated the touch of the Earth singer, feeling the warm glow of Mother Earth within her veins, filling and touching all within the chamber.

_Feel the shadow of my oblivion hoping mercy would show her faceon the road to your own perdition I may see you again, Xavier._

Lara felt the song of Glacial water move through her soul as it began go warm and fuse with Adriana's spirit and soul song, that she sang once more and filled her voice with as much of herself as she could._Frozen in time yearning forbidden and divine._

Razvan and Natalya danced together in perfect sync as they twirled and sang out together

_Scars of my broken will follow if tomorrow's blind?_

Syndill answered as she dipped low filling her hands with blackened earth, shining in pure minerals and throwing the treasure into the circle

_My eternal night._

Adriana turned to her lifemate and gathered the last of her strength as she pulled the stain of darkness into her soul, and allowed her spirit to bathe in the darkness that was Xavier's, as the entity that stained every male, female and child within the chamber was removed and flew into her body.

_Every single dawn I die - swallowing tainted light_

She whispered, Ivory threw the safeguards outside herself and chanted with an ancient mage limerick, tying the darkness of Xavier that held every male and female in the chamber, pulling the threads into her niece. Adriana absorbed every last one, and turned herself to her lifemate, as the stain of darkness rose and crackled within her.

Lifemate mine under obligation,

commit to Carpathian flame,

purge this evil of Xavier's creation,

free the people of his claim.

Set me alight so he may never see

the power he's lost unto me.

We are the children of Mother Earth,

not the Dark Mage even through birth.

Dragonseeker, Lycan, Carpathian and Mage,

the blood of all are no match,

we are united in our song,

set me aflame,

release me and erase the wrong

Adriana sung the final verse to her lifemate and watched as he formed the flame of Carpathian death within his hands, and thrust it upon his lifemate.

Every male in the chamber made a move to stop the deranged male from killing his lifemate, but stood and watched as she absorbed the flame into her body, imploded in a burst of purified light and energy, then slumped to the ground, unscathed but clawing for breath. The spell around the chamber crackled and warmed every male and female present, followed the path of the Carpathian people and warmed their bodies and souls as the stain of the Dark Mage was purged from their bodies. The Women along with Razvan danced in thanks to their Mother Earth, as they released their elemental calling. Ivory reversed the weavings allowing the safeguards to dissipate into nothing, as the scents and sounds faded from the chamber.

Bound to the evil of the mage no more,

Manilov curse has found the cure,

we were honed in the fires of hell,

bound to Xavier by heart and soul as well,

we are yours no longer to command,

beware Dark Mage your death is coming,

by Manilov hand

Ivory promised as she wove the threat of death into the final compulsion against Xavier. The power bristled and flowed into the darkness winging its way to the Dark Mage to warn him, the Carpathians were free of his evil, and the Manilov daughters were going to kill him. His creations, his destruction. Destiny cried out with happiness as she felt the strength of her unborn child, as she felt the light in her soul shining with power against the shadow that had been inside of her for too long. Every male and female turned and gazed at the Prince and his second, the Dragonseekers, the Earth singer and finally the Manilovs. As they too rejoiced in happiness that the touch of the Mage was finally gone from their bodies, hearts and souls. Zacarias approached his lifemate as the others did theirs and held them tightly.

"Syndill, you are a true wonder" Barrack nuzzled his lifemate as she laughed with carefree abandon. "Barrack, it was all Adriana, she banished the darkness with the power of the species within her veins, she is a vessel of everything, she is Xavier's ultimate destruction" Each Dragonseeker approached the young Manilov and gave her praise for such a dark invocation of power, soul and spirit. Finally Gregori and Mikhail approached her "I have never seen power harnessed in such a way, and I have stolen from the black books as well as the white. This power was unique. You have purged every Carpathian of the touch of Xavier, we are indebted to you" Gregori spoke. Mikhail held Raven close to him as he added "the Manilov line is to be treasured and respected, without the Manilov daughters we would be lost, our race extinguished by Xavier, none are to harm these women and their lifemates" Mikhail bit into his wrist, spilling his blood to the two women "I give you both my life's blood, you are true warriors against the Dark Mage Xavier and I am proud to call the Manilovs family" all Carpathians knelt at the words of the Prince, including the women and his Second. Razvan held Ivory as Zacarias held Adriana.

Ivory pierced a small wound and placed her hand over the wound in Mikhail's wrist, allowing her blood to flow unto his "I thank you along with my lifemate Razvan" Adriana held her hands to herself, tight against her body "I thank you with my lifemate Adriana, but she cannot give you her blood" some of the males lifted their heads at the inflection "I am daughter to a Vampire, the blood within me is his. Although it would cause you no indirect harm, I would never sully your blood with mine. My lifemate has ingested my blood and he is forever changed. I mean no disrespect, and I pledge my life to the people of the Prince, I pledge my allegiance to you, my soul and spirit to the destruction of Xavier" Mikhail smiled, knowing that the younger Manilov would never give her blood to anyone but her lifemate.

"Let it be known that Ivory and Adriana Manilov are blood-kin to the Prince. If they call for assistance you are to be there as if it were the Prince himself. Raven and Savannah are their sisters, Zacarias and Razvan are our brothers, rise and accept the new blood-kin to the Prince" Gregori announced as Mikhail closed the wound with a long rasp of his tongue. _I am so proud of you Palafertiilam _Zacarias whispered in his lifemates mind, sending soft caresses across her flesh, which heated her skin like soft butterfly wings. _I am going to show you the wonders of life when I get you alone tonight. _A smile raced across Adriana's mouth at the erotic images entering her mind, supplied by her lifemate. _I look forward to it. _She answered.


	9. Chapter 9

9

_When this battle is over,_

_If you survive until the dawn,_

_You'll realise the scent of victory_

_Is as bitter as the smoke of defeat - Ivory Dragonseeker_

Adriana stood in Zacarias' arms, feeling the heat of his body as she watched with carefully guarded emotions, the revelry in the Carpathians around her. Her skin itched as her blood ran cold, bile threatening to rise in her throat. She allowed her cool amber eyes to flow to that of her blood-aunt, the antique gold colour the female Manilovs were renowned for owning, and silently sought her to follow. Ivory turned in Razvans arms and whispered something silent as she stepped away from him, and towards the entrance of the caves. Adriana pulled from her lifemates embrace with a soft smile, but one that didn't quite reach her eyes "I wish to speak with Ivory, do you mind?" Zacarias allowed his lips to feather in her hair as he relinquished his hold on her.

"I want to speak with Razvan, go to your aunt" Adriana stepped away from the safety of her lifemate, and made her way towards the outside world, the realm of the Carpathians, washed in the thick onslaught of winters breath. Adriana saw her aunt standing on the edge of the mountainside, her long waist-length hair unbound and flying in the air current. She steeled herself and approached, her footfalls not sinking into the heavy snow, until she was beside her aunt.

They both stood there in silence for a long period of time, almost afraid to speak to one another, to ask questions they were unsure of whether they truly wanted the answers. Ivory was the first to break the tentative silence "You look just like your father - my brother, before he turned" Adriana allowed her breath to leave her lungs in a hiss at the thought of her father; the Vampire. "I am well aware that my father was once a honourable Carpathian male, but I never knew that man, I will have to take your word on that account" both Manilovs stood in the silence of the snowy kingdom that belonged to them under the night sky. "You are troubled, what is it you wished to speak to me about?" Ivory asked, watching the aerial displays of two lifemates in the midst of celebrating their new found freedom.

"you know it is not over" Adriana whispered silently, that Ivory had to turn up her hearing to catch the admission "It was too simple, Xavier wanted this, he wanted to know that you were amongst the Carpathian people, that his grandson Razvan still walks beside you. Now he knows more than we bargained for" Ivory stared intently at her niece she had felt nothing of the Dark Mage, only the touch of the extremophile in Destiny. "In cleansing the woman and her unborn child we have given Xavier a taste of the Dragons power"

"I am uncertain of what you mean Adriana, Dragons power? Xavier is far from this world, Razvan destroyed his body decades ago, and there was no trace of him" the younger Manilov stepped away from the elder and looked out over the ridge and deep into the valley below. "You were his student Ivory; he told me that on several occasions. You know him better than any skilled hunter in the ranks of the people; tell me honestly, do you believe he is dead?" Adriana waited as she felt her aunt ripple the power within her, following an ancient pathway to her mentor and teacher from the days long since gone, the days that shaped her into the fierce warrior she now was. "I believe that Xavier will refuse to be destroyed, there was no body and that worries me. What do you know?"

"Xavier lives and now holds the knowledge of Dragons Power through the spirit elements of the seven children of Dragons Flame, we have inadvertently told him where true power lies" she answered, feeling the icy chill of death creeping over her skin and turning it cold, despite her attempts at regulating her body temperature. "I don't understand, Dragons Power through Seven Dragons Flame is nothing more than a Childs story told by warriors to create the ultimate warrior, the first Dragonseeker" a sigh slipped from the younger Manilov as she clipped at her aunt "aren't all stories, pieces of truth in legend and reality?" Ivory stood still thinking back to the days of her own youth when stories were woven into gallant tales of Warriors. "I recall the tale, but not with enough clarity. As far as I remember the tale was sung of a warrior who was born without his soul, and searched the world over for it, without success. His was a song of endurance, courage and honour"

Adriana shook her head sadly "his song was of his soul, true he was born without colours and emotions, like most of our males that lose the ability after their two-hundredth year. The song of the Dragonseekers was one Xavier based most of his spells around, searching for the Dragons Flame. The original song, the one obviously forgotten sang that the first Dragonseeker soul was split into seven fragments; he held dominion over Earth, Air, Twinned-Fire, Water, Spirit, Power and Love. Tell me aunt, how many of us did it take to invoke the power within the circle to cleanse the woman, and the Carpathian people? Tell me how many were born Dragonseekers?" Ivory sucked in her breath in a long rasping sound as she listened and understood the enormity of what was being told.

"Syndill is an Earth caller, she is not Dragonseeker, and we are Manilov;" Ivory began to answer "whose lifemate is Dragonseeker, you are Dragonseeker, "Adriana completed the sentence before Ivory could voice her thoughts. "Earth-singers are daughters of Dragonseekers, the males held dominion of power through strength and soul, the females sang to the earth and held dominion over love and elements. We are Dragonseeker aunt, the lineages of the Dragonseeker branched out to save as many as possible when the mages understood the power of Dragons Flame. The Males kept the title Dragonseeker, the last known female was Rhiannon, and there were two other lineages that were sons and daughters. One lineage was not given a name, but rather a title; Earth-Singers the other Manilovs".

"Manilovs could not be Dragonseeker, no Dragonseeker has ever turned, and my brothers certainly are Vampire" Adriana whipped her face towards her aunt, her eyes burning with fires flame in the amber depths "you think I do not know? I am the unholy daughter of a vampire, your brother. I know all too well who and what they are, what I am. How powerful can a master vampire be when fully turned? My father and his brothers made the decision to become vampire, they chose to embrace darkness, they did not await their lifemates as they should have, they are no longer Dragonseeker, they gave up the power of the Dragon as they sold their souls, they could have been if they endured as they should have, but they did not. They failed the lineage, they failed the people, they failed their kin!" she hissed in anger.

The power flowing around Adriana crackled and raced along her skin, the whispers of fires flames creeping along her flesh. Ivory collected herself and allowed the pain of her niece to envelop her. "your father - my brother has done far worse to you than I ever believed. You are not unholy Adriana, you are the union of two, despite the darkness in Sergey he would have loved the woman he created you with, he would have loved you" Adriana shook her head in denial, "No child should ever have been born from Vampire, the whispers of darkness are all around, I hear every discordant note and it is so inviting. I fight against my soul every rising, and sometimes I just cannot fight, I am more Dragonseeker than I care to be, I know intimately the call our males hear."

Adriana shivered convulsively her eyes slipping closed in effort to maintain some control "Adriana why are you shivering? Regulate your body temperature" Ivory commanded as she approached her niece "I cannot, I have no control over my body, I haven't since we started the cleansing in the Chamber" Ivory watched in horror as her niece dropped to her knees in the snow, her head hanging low. Her teeth chattered against each other, her hands abruptly coming to her arms and rubbing against them for friction and warmth. Ivory wrapped her body around the younger Manilov, forcing her temperature into her niece. _Razvan I have need of you_ Ivory called out to her lifemate through their mental link, but met silence. _Razvan? _Adriana's lungs were shutting down under the extreme cold; her breathing was strained and noisy as she exhaled. "Adriana, look at me, call to your lifemate, call him now" Adriana turned her deep amber eyes towards her aunt "I have been trying to do that for a while, I fear we have walked into Xavier's trap, we have been severed from our lifemates, we cannot reach them, and they cannot reach us" she answered, her voice becoming more strained and quiet, her body slumped against her aunts violently shivering.

Ivory turned her thoughts towards the cave a few meters behind her "Razvan!" she yelled, throwing her voice into the cave of healing, only it flew back at her with a force that knocked the air from her lungs. A shadow moved beside the cave entrance, tall and broad shouldered. A male stood out from the inky depths and watched them, a shadow beneath his jaw, his eyes hollow shells of glowing crimson "save your breath Manilov, they cannot hear you" an unknown Carpathian male stood watching the women on the snow covered ground. "you are soul-bound to the crystals that lie beneath the snow, they absorb your bodies ability to control itself, the younger Manilov seems to have succumbed much faster then you, but yours will fail in due time. Your connections to your lifemates have been severed; you are helpless and belong to the High Mage"

"We shall see" Ivory hissed as she turned to survey the ground, feeling the discordant notes of powerful crystals beneath the snow. She cursed as she had not thought to feel for shadows beyond the cave before exiting; else she would have felt the trap. She lifted her face to the night sky, opened her heart and began to chant.

_Mother, oh mother we your daughters are ensnared_

_Help us, guide us, our lives be spared_

_Mother, oh mother our voices need to be heard_

_To our lifemates, our soul-halves our pain to be shared_

_Dragon's daughters we found ourselves to be_

_Carry our pain, our misery_

_Call your sons and daughters to arms_

_We are soul bound to shadows and cannot raise the alarms._

The earth pitched and rolled at Ivory's command as Mother Earth sang her song of pain and sorrow. The Male in the shadows hissed as the melodic song of pure earth made his form shimmer to the Vampire beneath. "they will be too late; your blood belongs to Xavier" he hissed as evil power filled the area both Manilovs sat, as the stench of putrid rotting flesh and sulphur began flowing towards them. More vampires had arrived, powerful ancients, masters, Adriana's uncles -Ivory's elder brothers.

Zacarias stood beside Razvan as they both watched the other Carpathians rejoice in the freedom the Manilovs had given them. The evil taint of the High Mage was cleansed form their hearts, souls and bodies. "I have to admit that was an impressive display within the circle" Zacarias spoke low as he regarded the others that now danced to heal the soil. Razvan watched with nonchalance as his daughters, Skyler and Lara danced and sang beside his sister Natalya, following the Earth-singer Syndill without question. "I never thought I would find my lifemate, Adriana is a miracle to me" he admitted as he watched the loam sparkle with bright powerful gems of purity.

"Ivory is very much the same for me also. We have met great challenges, some still do not completely trust us, but we are always vouched for by Gregori and the Prince. We would never wish for discord amidst the Carpathian people, but Ivory does not allow anyone to make me feel unwelcome. We are brothers to discord and strife, never truly accepted for ourselves nor the name of our women" Razvan turned his midnight blue eyes to the eldest De La Cruz. "How fares Adriana? She has a darkness in her that I recognise, but I cannot believe its presence to be true" Zacarias regarded the once branded traitor to the people with understanding and acceptance. "Adriana has shown me things I never thought possible. We have not completed the ritual, but we share the same heart and soul. Tell me, were you changed when you took Ivory's blood?"

"Changed? I am not wholly who I was before I met Ivory, if that is what you are asking. I have a greater connection to Mother Earth than I did. I have been accepted as her biological son, as Ivory is her daughter. We speak and console the earth as we would our true parents, is Adriana the same?" Zacarias stared in wonder at the words Razvan spoke, "No I have not touched anything like that, what an amazing power to hold. Adriana's is far different, she communes with the power of all species; Xavier allowed the blood of three to merge with hers. She is everything, and sees the darkness, the whispers of evil in everything and everyone. I have seen the bands of discoloured light as I look at our unclaimed males. Their souls shine in a shadows snare, the darker it is, the closer they become to losing themselves"

"You say she had the blood of the other species integrated into her body?" Razvan asked in awe, "Have you not seen the tattoos upon her flesh? The wolves upon her belly in a small running chain, the weavings of mage upon her neck and down her chest and dancing along ribs, and the flames of Dragon's Fire upon her hands racing to elbow? The leopard and Jaguar that embrace in a deadly fashion of teeth and claws on her shoulder? Have you not seen any of it? It is truly beautiful to look at" Razvan turned and clasped Zacarias's arms tightly "she has the blood of all species in her veins?" Zacarias nodded, his eyes staring deep into the male before him, "and she has the markings of each species upon her body, an acceptance of the blood, that she is the housed vessel?" again Zacarias nodded "Deus! Where is she?" he whispered with sheer elation and slight fear "conversing with your lifemate - her aunt" Razvan looked around the cave to find the two females, but could not see them _Ivory where are you? I must see your neice, I feel she is the salvation to our people. She will be coveted _his words were followed with silence, nothing returned to him, not even a haughty whisper or a smile. Zacarias saw the change in the male and followed his gut instincts _Adriana, something is wrong. Razvan seems on edge, are you well? _silence greeted his question, making his blood run icy cold.

The chamber began to weep; tears from the sconces dripped onto the Carpathians and filled the pools with sorrow. Syndill ceased her dance and cried out, clutching herself as if from a wound that had been inflicted upon her person. Barrack her lifemate entered the circle of women purifying the soil, in order to console her. The males each turned to protect the women, their eyes watching for any outward signs of attack, but nothing came, silence. Two wolves entered the cave, bloodied and torn from an unseen battle. The wolves were not Carpathians in the forms of their brethren; these were Ivory's silver-tipped wolves, the ones that were often merged onto her back. Raja and Ayame.

Both wolves dropped to the caves stone ground, their sides heaving, as Raja spoke to Razvan on the link that was theirs alone. _Brother, Foul ones attack our sister, and sister-child has fallen_ Power rippled and bowed as Razvan stood, his chin set in the firm manner that spoke of death to anyone in his way "what is it?" Natalya asked as she and Vikinoff approached. "Ivory and Adriana" those two names on his lips were all he said, as he flew from the cave into the snowy world outside with all the hunters following.

Ivory was shivering, unable to regulate her body temperature any longer, the trap was baited and they were being ruthlessly beaten into submission. Adriana was wheezing, fighting the compulsion to close her eyes and give in, she lay in the snow, her lips icy blue her skin porcelain white like the snow she lay in, her tattoos beaming brightly, her body shuddering with the cold. The only stark contrast in the colour was her blue-black hair that spilled around her body and covered the white in inky night. "hold on Adriana, just a little longer" Ivory rejoiced as Razvan and Zacarias flew into the evening and stood looking directly at them, but not seeing them. "Ivory!" Razvan called, Ivory lifted her voice as high as she could above a whisper, but it was not enough to break the spell woven into the area. Razvan did not acknowledge he could hear her. Raja and Ayame staggered outside into the snow, they had suffered terrible injuries attempting to flee the powerful dome that held the two Manilov females, by the Vampires that stood just behind them.

Adriana turned her deep amber eyes towards her uncles; they stood with a mock smile on their lips. Knowing they were unseen as long as they remained under the protection of the crystals Xavier created for the purpose of ensnaring Dragons Flame, whenever it finally manifested itself once more. They were unable to attack the hunters, but were able to cause great pain to those trapped within. Ivory lifted her eyes to the stars and chanted another counter spell, hoping it would last long enough for her lifemate to see them.

_Stars abound in heavens web_

_I call to thee to twist and ebb_

_To these women beneath your glimmer_

_Allow our lifemates to see us, for but a shimmer_

_We are trapped, our voices gone_

_We need your assistance with your light_

_Aid here and now this night_

_Allow us to be seen_

_Mixed with starlight like a dream_

_Mother's daughters call to heavens realm_

_Turn the tide on Xavier's helm._

Ivory began to fall forward onto her niece as the last spell pulled the remainder of her power, the crystals shimmered and glowed into the night, lighting up the snow with deep crimson light. She looked toward her lifemate hoping that the stars could allow them to be seen long enough and know there were two master vampires and one lesser in the area, too close for comfort.

Razvan searched again not able to feel his lifemate, as Zacarias did the same. The earth hummed and sang as stars above shone their light with even more power. The moon was hidden in heavens night, but the stars shone deeply soaking into the snow. The white powder glowed with deep red glare, the colour of blood and evil. It was in a circular shape, creating a wide circumference that sang with a heavy baritone of malice. Gregori stood before the Prince, "keep the women inside, that is a mage power circle, one to drain life into soul shadow" as he issued the commands, two forms began to shimmer, they lay in the centre with two larger more powerful towering over them.

"Ivory!" Razvan called as he caught sight of his lifemate, being dragged into the arms of a master vampire. "Adriana!" Zacarias followed a heartbeat behind him as the one picked his lifemate from the snow and threw her over his shoulder. The males made an approach, as lightning and purging fire flew into their minds, as thunder rolled and boomed overhead. The two vampires laughed sardonically "Xavier thanks you for your women, we will return for the others now we know who we look for" the two vampires Maxim and Ruslan Manilov turned and took wing, disappearing into shadows with their sister and niece slung over their shoulders. Zacarias and Razvan took to the skies in attempt to follow the male Manilovs, but there was no trace, no flow of power, nothing. They had simply vanished as though they never were.

The starlight faded, the crystals flared and shone into nothingness, burning themselves out. The sudden flow of energies that had remained imprisoned kicked every Carpathian in the gut with swift accuracy. The screams and pleas of both women for their lifemates, the sound of the Manilov's chanting and conversing, everything was replayed. Natalya placed her hand on her twins shoulder as she emerged from the cave despite Vikinoffs words. Razvan turned to his twin his eyes wide, the black pupil-less gaze sweeping over his sister.

Natalya stood still a moment, shivered uncontrollably and felt as tough her skin was crawling with spiders; the touch of Xavier. She felt peculiar, as though her body was being fragmented, being pulled against her will into another place, one that was chilled with ice and filled with sorrow and death. "Natalya! No stay with us" she opened her eyes, staring deep into her twins, whose own were filled with fear and desperation "Seven Dragons Flame" she whispered as she began to dissolve into nothingness, into shadow. "Natalya, you must not give into the compulsion, Natalya!" Razvan hissed, he could see through her as they were linked by blood, he saw the High Mage as he twisted his spells into calling the seven souls. Razvan felt it take a hold of him, felt it moving through his body, heard the call of the Dragon within him as it sought its mate. "Razvan! You must not follow your sister, Razvan!" Gregori hissed grabbing him by his upper arms and jerking him back inside the cave. Virkinoff, threw his mind into Natalya's and held her tight against the pull on her soul.

Razvan felt the pull on his soul, felt the compulsion whisper in his mind, heard Ivory and Adriana's screams as he was wrenched hard from his mind, as a block was placed hard as stone with Ivory's mark to protect him. He blinked his eyes back into focus, seeing the silvered gaze of Xavier staring at him, he rose an arm and struck towards the chest "I removed your heart once, I can do so again!" he snarled, Gregori jumped back calling to him, warrior to warrior. "Dragonseeker, see with your own eyes, not the eyes of the one whom tries to take your mind" Razvan took a breath and closed his eyes to his enemy, when he opened them he saw Gregori, the healer. "Forgive me" he whispered strained. "it was nothing, Xavier enjoys his mind tricks"

"Gregori I am losing Natalya!" Vikinoff hissed as he struggled to keep Natalya from falling into shadows snare. Razvan followed blocking the thoughts of his sister from his mind, he turned his eyes to the heavens and called a counter spell, one Ivory slammed into his mind before she shut him out.

_Mother Earth we your children are under attack_

_In the name of Seven's Dragon Flame, _

_Encase your fire children in your womb_

_Hold them fast as Xavier claws at their tomb_

_Do not relinquish your precious ones_

_They are the key to destroying all that comes_

_Dragonseeker, Lycan, Carpathian, Jaguar, Mage_

_The one whose blood is vessel for all_

_She is the ultimate child of your bosom and must not fall_

_You must save your children in Iron and Ore_

_Keep them safe forevermore_

_Seal them, hold them, and keep it tight_

_Encase them in your blackened night._

_Mother Earth we compel thee_

_Son to mother, hear me I plea._

Natalya gasped, as her breath flew back into her lungs, her brow beaded with blood-sweat, her eyes were distant, still being pulled back into her body beside her lifemate, who held her hand tightly. Gregori laid a hand upon Razvan, and watched as blood-red tears soaked his face, Natalya finally returned to her body, shook and fell into her lifemates arms, eyes closed and completely drained of strength. Her face was grey, deep shadows beneath her eyes, Razvan wanted to hold his sister, but the need to ensure his lifemates safety was paramount in his mind. He was already building a battle plan.

"What are Seven's Dragon Flame?" Gregori questioned, as he turned to Natalya as her lifemate took her into his arms and took her deeper inside the cave of healing. "I do not know for sure, I have heard it somewhere long ago but it is hazed and unclear" Razvan followed Vikinoff and the Healer, watched as they placed Natalya on the rich loam. Mother Earth's veins wove tight around her, covering her in skeins of gold and silver as she protected her daughter. "That spell you wove, what is it doing to Natalya?" Vikinoff hissed as he watched Gregori enter then re-emerge from Natalya with a shocked look on his face. "The Earth is protecting her, I cannot enter her body. It is much when it was healing you and Ivory".

Hisses of alarm spread as one-by-one women in the chamber began to sway and fall to earth, Lara, Skyler and Syndill dropped where they stood despite the efforts of their lifemates. Skeins of gold and silver flowed over them, binding them tight in the rich iron and ore that flowed like blood. "Mother Earth is protecting Dragon's Flame" Razvan answered as he too began to feel the pull, he dropped to one knee before all the Carpathians. "Razvan, Dragon's Flame, it is something you and the other women did to purge us of Xavier's taint". Gregori said as a statement as he watched the Dragonseeker become one with the Earth, as her skeins of gold snaked up his legs to his upper body turning burning silver. "Must protect Dragon's Flame, the legend is in the ancients. It must not be given to the mage - it must not fall - the seven fragments of Dragonseekers must remain pure, else all will perish" Razvan fell to his hands his long hair flowing around his shoulders to the ground.

"The earth will keep us sealed and protected until Ivory and Adriana are free of Xavier. If one can free herself she will fall to Mother Earth, where she stands. You have to find them, free them. If Xavier gets one fragment to turn - one single soul to shed its light - all will be lost, Xavier will be reborn, and we will be powerless against him" Razvans heart thumped loudly in the chamber, beat once, twice then ceased as mother earth rose and swallowed him into her bosom of blackened night.

"Call to your elder brothers Gregori, they are ancients, they will know of this legend" Gregori turned into himself, seeking his Eldest brothers. Gabriel and Lucian were in Europe and would return instantly, as the need was strong _Brothers, a Legend is sung of Seven Dragons Flame, two of our women have been taken by Xavier, one nearly lost to shadow's snare, she is retrieved but sealed in Earth. Three other women have been encased in the same manner, the seventh one a warrior has fallen to the Earth. You have been called by our prince to aid us. _Gregori waited mere moments until Lucian answered _Seven Dragons Flame is a myth, I only saw it once as a young fledgling. I will return immediately. _Gregori turned to Mikhail "Lucian returns" a heartbeat later his other brother, twin to Lucian answered the call _If Seven's Dragon Flame has returned to the world, Xavier must not get his hands on one single fragment, that he holds two is troubling, we are returning immediately and will be there by next rising. _Mikhail looked at the lifemates of those who had fallen into deep slumber, encased in Earth, impenetrable by gems and powerful elements. "I will entrust the cave to you, you will be here to guard their lives as we await the Ancients to return to us" Gregori added on their private path _my elder brothers are concerned over the Dragons Flame, I fear this is far more than we first realised._


	10. Chapter 10

10

_The birds have stopped their singing,_

_The night no longer welcomes_

_The ground heaves and trembles around them_

_Death is always wherever they be, _

_Be wherever they are not - Jubal_

* * *

Lucian and Gabriel arrived as promised by the next rising, with both their lifemates, Francesca was equally worried having being an ancient herself, she knew of the legend, whereas Jaxon was filled in on the way. They all met in the chambers of healing, giving each of the newly arrived Carpathians a chance to witness the effects of Mothers hold on her children within the arms of the Earth. Both Gabriel and Lucian hissed in anger as they saw their adoptive daughter amidst the fallen, Francesca wailed like a mother losing her child. "Why Skyler, she should not be in this, my Skyler has seen enough" she poured her heart into her adoptive daughter, trying to ruse her from a death slumber, to no avail.

"Brothers, we do not recall the legend of the Seven Dragons Flame, what is it?" Gregori questioned as all assembled looked to them for answers. "It is merely a legend of the first Dragonseeker" Lucian answered as he wrapped his arm around Jaxon. "It was sung by the people, as a talisman to hold the beast deep within, to allow long life and immortality to those who were cursed Dragonseeker, to find their lifemates" Gabriel added as he touched the soft cheek of his adoptive daughter. "There is more, it was told that the first Dragonseeker sought the world for his soul - lifemate. It was the most laborious search that needed his complete control and unwavering will to find her" Francesca added remembering the calling long ago.

"What do you mean?" Mikhail asked the three ancients. Francesca held onto her daughter tightly afraid to let go. "Long ago, a fierce warrior was born without colour or emotion, his life was devoid of everything, he was not graced with even the first few centuries of feeling, he searched fought the vampire from birth all the while he searched the world for his lifemate, the one to restore life to him, to allow him rebirth. He walked through the fiery volcanoes to search the maidens of fire as the Vampire did, yet she was not among the people. He swam the oceans to the daughters that lived in villages humbled by the Sea trailing the undead, yet she was not there" Francesca allowed her heart to fill with the story as she recalled it with perfection. Gabriel took her silence as a need to continue "The Warrior sought the Mage kingdom where air swam in power and rippled with desire a place where many of our fallen brethren converged to seek power, yet she did not dwell in the realm of air and magic. He even flew to the most remote regions of Earth and forest searching amongst other races in fleeting hope that she existed among other species. Yet she did not."

"His heart, already empty and filled with nothing but the insidious calls of the undead; ghosted a feeling within, if only for a fleeting moment; he felt the shadows of sorrow, for the first time in his life. He had travelled distances, that none other had managed, fought for those whom were blessed with feeling only to find nothing. He suddenly understood the Vmapire more than any other Carpathian, and understood their desire for the turn"

"He walked through Fire, Swam through water, Flew through Air, Searched the Earth, Sought her through power, and found nothing. His spirit was shattered and that was all he had to him, it was in that moment, that she appeared - tall, beautiful and shimmering under the full moon. Her hair was the colour of Fire, her eyes the coolness of water, heart as light as the air, the Earth sprang to life at her feet in ways it never to any other woman in the lands. She swam in untold power, and she followed his spirit, to take it into her keeping, to save him from the perpetual darkness she knew he was facing" Lucian finished.

"They bound themselves in the ritual of our people, and he was Reborn. They had seven children; sons and daughters. A fragment of their souls were embedded in their children, each were meant to bare the symbol of the Dragonseekers on their flesh, marking them powerful warriors." Gabriel continued, looking towards his adoptive daughter and pulling the rise of her waistband to show the mark of the Dragonseeker clan on her flesh. "Two of the daughters were not marked with the dragon, one held the symbol of the Earth, a simple leafy pattern where the dragon should have been, and one was unmarked completely" Francesca added looking to Barrack and Syndill.

"The High Mage at the time was Xavier's father, he was bitter over the power these two wielded and sought to destroy them - Fearing for the safety of their children, the Dragonseekers hid them amongst others within the people. They were branched into three formidable lineages, given different names so the Master Mage could not find them all" Francesca placed her face into the crook of Skylers neck feeling the love of mother earth pouring into her daughter.

"The males and one female were entrusted with the title of Dragonseeker, Dominic and Rhiannon were the last in the Lineage bearing that name, twins of fire. A younger brother Talon, was taken and killed for his blood by the Master mage, which extinguished the flame of Air, the fragment lost to the people. There was one unmarked female who was given the title Earth-caster, or Earth singer as she would be entrusted to sing the song of Mother Earth to the people, to cleanse and rejuvenate the soil in rich loams, and that was Syndill's mother, she is the Daughter of the Earth, the fragment that saves the people" Mikhail and Gregori looked to the slumbering female in Barracks arms as Gabriel told the legend, marvelling how children were so powerful that they shone with the sparks of something untouched and long forgotten.

"One woman, the unmarked one could cast and sing to the Earth yet she held more power. She had the power to use all the elements, all the fragments in her possession, and Reina was given the title Manilov" Lucian added, waiting for those in the cave to begin the hissing he knew was coming. "Manilov?" Nicolas De La Cruz sneered, "If the Manilov brothers were descendants of the greatest Dragonseeker lineage, they would not have sold their souls, no Dragonseeker has ever turned" Francesca halted the male as he grew angry with the thought "they are no longer Dragonseeker, the line changed when evil stained their hearts and claimed the females in the line. They bare the golden eyes of the dragons power, you have seen it in Ivory"

"So you are meaning to tell us, that Razvan and Natalya are the Dragons Fire as they, like Rhiannon and Dominic are twins under the Dragonseeker line" Mikhail asked as he followed the legend and had questions that needed answering. "Yes" Gabriel and Lucian answered together "Syndill is the granddaughter Earth caster, one of the Dragonseekers, bearing the leafy symbol of Mother Earth" Gregori questioned, again both his brothers answered "Yes" which shocked Barrack as he held her tight. "Skyler and Lara are Razvan's daughters so they are, what?" Nicolas asked as he held onto his Lara "Lara is the Dragons Water, Skyler Dragons breath, I would Imagine Colby, Razvan's other daughter is another embodiment but she is in South America and likely not touched by the power, if she were here I would say she is also Dragon's Flame, by her fiery hair and personality." Francesca answered his question, with thoughts over Colby.

"What of the Manilovs? Ivory and Adriana" Dimitri asked as he approached his unclaimed lifemate Skyler. "I would suggest that Ivory being the Female Manilov would be the embodiment of Dragons power, I have seen her cast spells and counter-attack Mage, yet she holds fire in her heart, and the determination of the Dragonseeker. I know nothing of an Adriana" Gabriel answered, asking his first question "who is Adriana?" Zacarias spoke for the first time standing beside Razvan's body "My lifemate, a Manilov, daughter of Sergey Manilov, the Master Vampire" both twins exchanged a look, one of sheer power and speculation "your lifemate is a vampires child, a Manilov?" Lucian asked, Zacarias nodded in affirmation "she is, she is the vessel in which Xavier experimented on, she houses the blood of all other species within her, Lycan, Mage, Dragonseeker, Jaguar, Leopard and Carpathian" Eyes wide in astonishment Francesca answered "she would be Dragon's Spirit, being able to house the blood of powerful species in harmony. I understand that she and Ivory are the ones to have been taken as they are not here"

"Xavier has both Manilov females" Gregori responded "Xavier has two of the most powerful fragments of Dragons Flame, if he had all seven then we are doomed, it is by the sheer will power of the one whom cast this spell that placed all the embodiments into the arms of Mother Earth for protection. If Xavier can extract the power of the seven fragments and combine them into one, he can have ultimate rebirth and will be immortal. He would have the power of all elements and mage combined, he would be unstoppable. Zacarias does your lifemate hold any special abilities?" Lucian asked as he allowed his power to run over his muscles. Zacarias felt the need to keep quiet about Adriana's special abilities, but he knew It was important to tell the ancients. "Adriana Manilov is capable of restoring the fallen Vampire to his once honourable state, the cost however is high, as she takes into herself the vampires rotten soul. It smothers her light so only the purging fires of Carpathian justice can eliminate them" Lucian lowered his gaze solemnly "so your lifemate has to die if she purges one of our own, not acceptable"

"There is more, tell them Zacarias" Gregori added. Zacarias felt as though he was betraying her confidence "not exactly, Adriana is capable of rising from her own ashes, she is reborn once again after every death, but she always keeps a shadow of the Vampire within her" both Gabriel and Lucian stood shocked at the answer, Francesca gasped at her power. "And Xavier has both her and Dragons power? He has the two most powerful embodiments already, he may possibly not need the others"

Ivory lay on the hard ice stone floor of their prison, chained to the freezing ground. Adriana was chained to the ceiling, the vampire blood coated manacles biting deep into her wrists, Xavier stood in the chamber gnarled and frail looking, his staff in his hands looking every bit the evil withered wizard he was. Ruslan stood behind Adriana with a leather thong in his hands tipped with silver points, that were coated in something black and evil. Adriana shivered, still unable to regulate her body temperature, as well as fear mixed with anticipation. Ivory watched her brother as he drew his arm back extending the vicious looking whip and lashed at his nieces exposed back, the metal barbs driving deep into flesh. Adriana cried out in untold pain as her flesh tore apart, and blood dribbled down her back, the wound burning as though fire raged within, the silvered barbs being coated in vampire blood. Xavier was attacking her Carpathian and Lycan blood at once.

"Tell me the secret of Dragons Flame, Ivory. Else your niece here will be shredded to the bone" Xavier hissed in her face _tell him nothing! Do not give him one word of it! _Adriana whipped into Ivory's mind commanding obedience in such. Ivory sealed her mind from her niece's pain, and smiled at Xavier in mocking amusement "I never though you so senile that you resort to wanting a bedtime story sung to children before their first grounding" Ivory tormented. Xaviers eyes narrowed to silver slits as he turned his attention to Adriana "ten lashes!" Ruslan smirked, "her screams will be your fault little sister" Adriana bit her lips so hard that blood spurted from them, but she did not scream as her flesh tore, as bone was cut, which earned her another five with vicious intent. Again she kept her screams in check, never giving either of them the satisfaction. _I will not allow my pain to be on your conscience aunt _Adriana spoke to Ivory on their private pathway, her voice resolute and firm as though they were discussing the weather.

"I grow impatient Ivory, tell me the secret of Immortality through Dragons Flame!" Ivory kept her haughty look of a princess looking down upon a pauper as she replied to the High Mage "I wonder if you could truly understand the importance of such a legend, I shall tell you if you really need to hear it" Ivory stated sending her thoughts to her niece _I shall spin a tale of lies and deceit yet you must erase the truth from my mind. I know you have the power _Ivory felt the ruffling inside her head as Adriana erased the legend from her mind, before she began to tell Xavier the legend he wanted desperately to hear. "There was a hunter, a legend of great power, he sought to rid the world of those who dared prey on the race of Carpathians that he formed Dragons Flame. The fire was only able to be used by a mated pair in the face of true evil, the secret to using this power is…to dance in sunlight wearing bunny slippers, make sure they're pink ones you vile excuse for a High Mage!" Ivory snipped, Adriana laughed openly turning her head towards her aunt, and smiling openly at the Mage.

Xavier hissed and screamed "you will tell me, by all that is unholy you will tell me!" the Mage turned to Ruslan "you are authorised to continue, take what you need and give in return" Ruslan discarded the leather whip with the silver tipped barbs, he grabbed Adriana roughly by her neck and sank his teeth into her throat deeply and painfully. Adriana screamed with the force, the feel of him pulling her blood from her veins, Ivory writhed in her own chains causing them to bite deeper into her own flesh as she clawed to get closer to her niece. Adriana sagged against her chains, breathing deeply and raggedly. Ruslan had bitten into her neck the opposite side of the mage tattoo, her neck was shredded, blood ran like a sickly dark stain down her back, as he tore into his wrist and thrust it to her mouth. Adriana choked on the contaminated blood, but had little to no choice to gulp it down as Ruslan took control of her mind and forced her.

"Adriana No! Ruslan she is your niece, I compel you to not do this to her" Ivory screeched trying desperately to reach her. She watched as Ruslan took his wrist from her and sealed the wound with his own tongue "Adriana will turn, she is Sergey's daughter, and is part Vampire. She will turn and she will tell us the secrets of Dragons Flame, then she will released to her lifemate. He will watch as she kills every last male and female starting with the Prince, then every child and infant before he is forced to kill her with his own hand. He will be the last remaining Carpathian male and he will come begging for his end" Adriana groaned in response, coughing as she attempted to expel the blood of the undead within her. Ruslan picked up the leather whip and held it out once again, his eyes only upon his baby sister as he repeatedly struck Adriana until her screams rang loud and clear throughout the caves, but most prominently in Ivory's heart and soul.

"Can you wake them?" Gregori asked as he looked over the stil sleeping forms of Razvan and Natalya, Syndill, Skyler and Lara, they had remained unmoving, in the Earth's embrace for two full risings. "can Mother's embrace be released? I know Razvan did it to ensure the safety of those Xavier seeks, but we have need of his knowledge and Natalya's spell castings, as well as the others for their lifemates, this is taking a toll on their souls" Lucian and Gabriel turned to Francesca and thought between them. "The blood of the Dragonseekers runs deep within these sons and daughters. Are Darius and Desari in the region?" Gabriel asked thinking of a way in which the call could be turned and the Dragons released. "they are both in the small village I have called them to us" _Darius, Desari you are both needed urgently in the Chamber of healing, fly on swift wings. _Deep into the night two raptors flew into the chamber closely followed by their lifemates. Desari and Darius shifted to their forms immediately. "Brothers, it has been too long" Desari greeted her eldest brothers in a firm embrace.

"Indeed little sister, we have yet to venture to one of your concerts" Desari smiled and stood beside Gregori "we need a song to invoke the power of the Dragons, to awaken the slumbering lifemates in Mother Earths hold" Desari looked over each one, noticing her band-sister Syndill amongst them. "A song to release Mother Earth, I am not certain she will heed it, Syndill was the Earth Singer" Desari answered noting that all the Dratazzanoff kin were assembled. "Then sing to Syndill, and she can plea to Mother Earth" Darius added thinking that if they called Syndill she would help them.

Desari closed her eyes and sang from deep within her heart, the enchanting notes pulling power from the atmosphere and shimmering in a rainbow of light. Gregori turned and invoked a spell as the four brothers stood in a circle, making Desari the fifth.

_Mother Earth, your Dragons Flame you protect_

_Within your arms hiding them from ill-intent_

_Your warriors of old have returned_

_A song they sing, the legend retold_

_Blood of the five to restore those whom slumber_

_Dratazzanoff line we take the encumber_

_To be the bodyguards of such power_

_By our blood the Mage will cower_

_We combined will protect thee_

_Dragons Flames return to we_

The power in the room sparked, Mother Earths bands of brilliant gold and silver skeins grew brighter over the bodies of those she protected. Gregori bit into his wrist as Gabriel, Lucian, Darius and Desari did the same, allowing their blood to fall to the ground in the blood promise. The golden skeins took the colour of the blood that was spilled, taking their homage into her heart. But they were not released. The light grew brighter until each Carpathian had to shield their eyes from the intensity. The candles flames rose higher, as almost touching the ceiling above, aiding in the intensity. Warmth filled the cave, along with the scent of fresh spring rain and woodland. A gentle breeze flowed all the embodiments into a calming aroma, making all turn towards the centre of the circle.

_My sons and Daughters of Dragons Flame must remain deep within My Earths heart. Evil must not take these remaining fragments, else all will be destroyed._

Power and spirit entered the potent mix, flowing through the air and combining with the scents of elements. As another presence filled the cave.

_We gave our lives for our children, we protected them from the High Mage. If they need to remain nestled in the arms of Mother Earth for centuries then so be it, they are too important to lose to evil. _

"The High Mage holds two of your daughters, both Manilov females are captured, their lifemates are here trying to find them, they have been gone for two risings allow us to protect them." Lucian spoke low into the light, the power surged hotly in the chamber, flowing through each of the fallen children nestled deep.

_Dragons Breath, Fire's twin, Earth and Tears are present, the embodiments of Spirit and Power are missing, if we permit you to hold the elements you must retrieve the other two, whole and safe. The elemental embodiments will know where the others are, the incantations are in their minds, sealed long ago. You have rises until one of them turns, then all will be committed to ground, the fate of one condemns all, you have very little time as one is fighting to remain alive and in the light even as we speak._

The power receded into the dull natural candles flame, as the skeins withdrew from the fallen, one by one they began to stir, taking their first breath, allowing their hearts to beat into rhythm once more. Syndill awoke first, followed by Lara, Natalya, Skyler and finally Razvan. Each looked towards the ancients surrounding their bodies, then to one another. "I take it we don't have long to find them" Lara asked as she extended a hand to Nicolas. "No, you need to work together and find their location it has been two risings already" Lara stood on shaky legs as she approached her father, "we need a locator spell" she voiced turning to her aunt, Natalya smiled, "already on it" it took only mere moments for the five of them that remained to find a spell locked away in their minds that would lead the hunters to their lost kin.

_Long thought lost, we call to thee_

_Spirit and Power hear our plea_

_To our mother we have been released_

_To find her children with hearts that beat_

_Daughters of Manilov through Dragons Flame_

_Embodiments of Spirit and Power we seek you again_

_We sent to you our Warriors to fight beside_

_They will guide you, protect you and turn the tide_

_You cannot be left your souls must return_

_The seven fragments of Dragons flame will not turn_

_Dragonseeker to Dragonseeker _

_Those marked and not_

_We are blood and life, we no longer forgot._


	11. Chapter 11

11

_An angel has sewn the sky shut with thread_

_Dark blue and light blue and silver_

_I don't remember the warmth of kinship_

_I don't remember the taste of anything but loss_

_I have no strength to resist the pull_

_Every time I rise from my slumber,_

_The dawn calls as I resign myself to the arms of God _

_- Dominic Dragonseeker_

* * *

The second night had begun to wane, the sun a few short hours from rising, Ivory hissed as the prickling on her skin began. She was most sensitive to the suns risings, even when deep underground; it was the side effect of being torn apart as a young girl, and having to piece herself back together again inch by slow inch under the earth for centuries. Adriana was hanging from her chains moaning through the blood tearing through her insides. Ivory felt the pull of her soul within her body as though someone had called it from a distance, wanting her location. _Razvan? _she questioned following her mental link to her lifemate. He was there immediately flooding her with warmth and quiet promises. _Ivory let me see through your eyes, let me see you and your niece - we need to know where you are. _

Razvan stood in the ring of Dragonseekers along with his daughters, sister and cousin. The Dratazzanoffs in their own circle behind them, chanting with untold power of an ancient lineage. He felt the connection resume between himself and Ivory, felt her tentative touch as she spoke his name with confusion _Razvan?. _warmth flowed through him instantly as he felt the icy chill of her touch, calming her restless spirit. His soul danced and sang, knowing she was alive and relatively unharmed, other than being unable to regulate her temperature. _Ivory let me see through your eyes, let me see you and your niece - we need to know where you are _he spoke softly to her, nodding his head towards Gregori as a sign of beginning something they had conjured between themselves. The Dratazzanoffs sung low and hollow, calling upon their ancient blood, the blood of the protectors, the guardians to the Prince and the lost powers.

Natalya and Lara combined thoughts and spells and created a viewing portal for all those in the cave to 'see' both the abducted Manilovs. A natural pool was selected and framed with the soil in which they lay. Sage and Sweetgrass were threaded within, and lavender burned as they called upon Earths powers. The pool shimmered then showed Ivory chained to the floor of a deep cave. Razvan felt his anger boil to the surface, the usually cool and calm Dragonseeker was a burning beacon of power as he saw his lifemate. The vision shifted and showed the younger Manilov, Adriana was hanging from the ceiling with the same chains her head hung low, blood pouring over her ribs as the wound in her neck had been left. Her back was ripped to shreds, deep angry wounds that went to the bone. Zacarias dropped to his knees in the cave looking at her beaten body _Adriana!_

Adriana lifted her head despite the terrible pain it caused and looked over and beyond the cave "Zacarias?" she whispered, before lowering it once again in slow movements. Her eyes were heavy, unable to remain open for the heartbeat of time that she could have sworn she heard her lifemate. "Adriana, its alright, our lifemates are looking for us, we just have to stay strong for them. Adriana did you hear me?" Ivory called out to her niece whom only moaned in response _she is so weak Razvan, One of my Brothers drank from her, took too much, then gave her his blood in return, Xavier is forcing her to turn to the Vampiress inside, hoping to use her against the Carpathian people. _

Razvan turned to all in the Chamber and relayed the information back to them, then snapped his attention back to Ivory as movement was occurring in their shared cell. All the Carpathians watched as Ruslan Manilov entered "How is our little prodigy coming along? Have you neared the turning point yet?" he gripped under her chin tightly, and somewhat aggressively that Zacarias growled loudly against such abuse to his lifemate, he was instantly restrained, else he risked the Vampire knowing they were watching. The Dratazannoffs ceased their chanting and spell weaving to watch what the Eldest Manilov was going to do to the youngest.

Ruslan gripped her tight, and peered into her face "open your eyes girl!" he hissed in her face, Adriana complied immediately earning herself a sneer "Not there yet, perhaps another boost of my blood in your veins will speed things along, then I have a surprise for my niece" Ruslan released her chin instantly and dropped to his knees before her. Ivory watched knowing that Razvan, Zacarias and the other Carpathians were linked through her, and should be able to stop him from completing his defilement of her only niece. _We are attempting a retrieval spell, pulling on everything we've ever learned from Xavier and using it against him. He will not expect us to use the spells he taught us centuries ago. _Razvan told her as she heard vicious growls in her mind, no doubt from Zacarias as Ruslan wrapped his boney fingers around one of Adriana's thighs, squeezing it encouragingly like a tourniquet. _Razvan Hurry! _Ivory shrieked as she watched Ruslans lips touch her femoral artery "I have long favoured this spot to take blood from unwilling hosts, especially when I have an audience" Ruslan whispered wickedly, turning his eyes to Ivory. "Don't, don't you dare defile her Ruslan!"

"I dare!" he hissed as he sunk his fangs deep into the flesh and piercing her artery with a sickening crunch. Adriana cried out with what was left of herself, weeping against the pain, she hissed as she felt her blood rise and spill out of her wound into her uncles greedy mouth. Ivory watched with revulsion, tried to pull herself against her chains to help her niece, hissing as the manacles coated in Vampire blood melted away skin with the sickening scent. She watched as her eldest brother lifted her nieces leg to his mouth to catch the liquid and suck greedily as he continued with his meal, sucking at the wound until it stopped bleeding so readily. She ground her teeth as she watched him digging his fangs deeper to access more of the ruby liquid "Ruslan! Stop it, you're Killing her! RAZVAN! Help my niece, she can't take anymore" she cried out, uncaring that they could be caught using her eyes.

Ruslan lifted his head and pulled away from her vein and sighed with pleasure, glancing at his little sister to tell her with sick satisfaction, "There's nothing so sweet as blood laced with adrenaline, its so pungent with all that extra oxygen coursing through it, it makes you feel Ivory, and it feels wonderfully addictive" he waited a moment and stared deeply into his sisters eyes "are you watching hunters, can you feel her life ebbing away?" he laughed for a brief moment "Did you believe I would not notice the shine to my sister's eyes as you peered through them? That I wouldn't hear the growls beyond as I touched her? Are you enjoying the little show? There is plenty more to come yet" Ruslan's smile took on a cruel edge as he pierced his wrist with a sharp talon. He grabbed a handful of his niece's hair and yanked viciously until she cried out in startled pain, and then his wrist was immediately against her open mouth. "swallow my little one, swallow it all," he ordered.

Adriana gasped and choked loudly as she swallowed everything in her mouth. Ruslan moved to the door of the small cell and pulled a terrified human into the centre. "Ivory, I'm sure you know this woman. As do you all you hunters watching, but just for the record," Ruslan placed her in front of his niece "what's your name?" he hissed in her ear "Slavica" she answered. "Adriana!" Ruslan snapped to his niece as she hung limply in her chains, her gasping breaths and trembling hands only served to make the mortal woman fear what was going to happen to her even more. "Open your eyes child!" he ordered, and she obeyed, not quite seeing, but semi aware. "Listen to me now hunters, you'll like this part," he smiled evilly "Slavica here is Adriana's sacrifice. All she has to do is bite this mortal woman and drain her of her lifeblood and that is the beginning of our Vampire child. If she refuses the blood she will go mad and die an agonizing death"

"I prefer option three, we come to you and destroy you Ruslan, free the Manilovs and Slavica and send your damned soul back to the pits of hell, where not even shadow warriors dare to walk" Ivory hissed her eyes blazing a feral silver. "Gregori, I would like to see you try. Come then if you dare, if you believe yourselves strong enough. Alpine Ridge in the Northern most peak deep beneath the Ice. That is where you will find us, there is where you will all meet your demise, by my hand and my nieces' who will turn and destroy you, as she is running out of time" Ruslan stared deep into his sister's eyes as he issued his challenge, never one to walk away and be the loser, his pride never allowing that to occur. He grabbed his sisters head from the back and yanked it up "Razvan, brother - yes that is what you are being my sister's lifemate - you best hurry and save these Manilovs, else they will both follow in the footsteps of their brothers and uncles this is the end of the second rising" in that moment he sunk his teeth firmly into his sister's throat and gulped greedily at her blood.

Razvan gathered his power under his skin and thrust himself through the link and pounded against Ruslan, throwing him away from his lifemate, to land on his backside some feet away "My my Dragonseeker, I was merely having a taste, I will replace all I take, that I guarantee" he smiled evilly. Razvan stood in the circle his eyes following Ruslan as his temper grew in power, something shifted inside him, and came to the forefront of his mind as he stared at Ruslan in the pool. His hand extended towards him as though commanding power to his fingertips, to do his bidding as words sprung fourth from his mind and attacked with heated aggression,

Two halves that make a whole

Twins born of Dragons Fire burning in my soul

I command my flame to twist and hold

Gather his body and make it old

Through my flame I fill with hate

He who dare touch my lifemate

I throw out my flame and decree

Torch him! Scorch him! make him flee

Believe his skin dried like paper

Set him ablaze flow and taper

I am half of Dragons Flame

And promise you, I play no game!

All in the chamber watched as Fire flowed around Razvans body, his eyes glowing with little red flames deep within, he snarled as he spoke his promise, filling the cave with heat. They stared in fascination as his flame shot through the pool and consumed Ruslan on the other side.

Ruslan hissed and shrieked as flames covered his entire body, burning his skin and shrivelling it like paper, he dropped to the ground and rolled around attempting to douse the flames. However these were made of Dragonseeker fury and would not recede. Ruslan called out to his brother Maxim and Xavier as chunks of his flesh fell from his body, charred and blackened. Ruslan turned his eyes to his sister whom watched with some satisfaction as he hissed and writhed. He lifted a hand and struck her hard. Black spots clouded the small pool, it quivered and rippled as though it had sustained the blow, the image began to falter, fade and became nothing as Ivory lost the battle to stay conscious. "I'm coming for you Ivory!" Razvan promised, though she would no longer hear him. He turned and left the circle, taking two steps before falling to his knees in a sudden surge of weakness that left him breathless.

Zacarias grabbed his shoulder as he fell, trying to lessen the blow on his body, making Razvan stay at his knees "How did you do that?" he asked as Razvan collected himself, gathering his strength once again. "I am unsure, I just had the unyielding drive to attack him for touching my lifemate. There was some part of my mind that just shifted and the words tumbled out, and I knew unerringly what I had to do" Razvan answered "Do you know what the unsettling part is?" he asked his new brother, Zacarias remained silent as Razvan whispered something to him alone "That was mere infants play, the power inside me, inside all of us is far more stronger than that, it is overwhelming and I fear when Xavier unlocks the power within Ivory and Adriana we will have a real problem".

* * *

"Her skin is so cold, I fear she is dying" Slavica spoke softly through the darkness as she touched Adriana, still hanging from the ceiling by her wrists. Ivory lifted her heavy head fighting the need to fall into slumber and leave the mortal human to the Dark Mage and his minions during the daylight hours. "Talk to her, try a conversation" she nudged the woman, even though she herself could not think of a subject to converse. "We need to remain alert and awake, I dare not put you to sleep, nor leave you to the daylight ghouls that serve the Dark Mage." Slavica sighed softly as she touched the young girl as before on the cheek. "Adriana? Is that your name?" She questioned, hoping to ruse the girl into talking with her, however got nothing. She stood there silent for a moment as the name rolled around her mind and tongue for a mere moment. "Shadowed Darkness, walking in the Light" that gave her a light response, a mere groan but it was something. "Ivory you say that you are her Aunt by Blood, that she is what you call a Dragonseeker as well as a Carpathian" Ivory nodded, not understanding the way this question was being phrased. "Well her father was Vampire - so he would have been Dragonseeker if he remained pure?"

"Yes, My Brothers sold their souls for power, so the Dragonseeker blood came to life in our bodies, we are both Carpathian and Dragonseeker, a pure unity of the two, why?" Ivory seemed interested in Slavica's thoughts that sleep began to ease, and she became more alert. "Once Dragonseeker, then Carpathian, turned Vampire; that is this one's father correct?" she asked slowly as she began to piece together Adriana, whom began to come to life slowly, wanting to hear what was being said. Slavica began drawing in the dust and grime. Writing Ivory's name, then wrote brothers one through five. She drew a line connecting Ivory to Razvan, almost a family tree of sorts. Further writing mother and father above all of them.

"So You were saying that your Mother, was a daughter of this First Dragonseeker?" Ivory smiled knowing what Slavica was finally doing, she was trying to determine the Lineage of the Dragonseekers, past and present, when she was finally done she pointed to three still living Dragons Flames of the Past, the Six that existed now including herself and Adriana. It was a failsafe, a safeguard of the Dragonseeker lineage. There were nine living Dragons Flames, and each of them were connected through blood and parentage, except Adriana. True she was a Manilov, but she was a Vampire-born one, therefore her mother had to have been Dragonseeker, but whom? There was no other on the list of names. Who was Adriana's mother? Who was the missing Dragonseeker?

Ivory looked over the names once again, Dominic and Rhiannon were the twins of Dragon's Flame, one twin was Killed and the other still lived, but held the power of two. Before she was murdered Rhiannon bore triplets, Soren - Who would have been Dragon's Tears, Branislava Dragon's Breath, Tatijana Dragon's Spirit, Reina Manilov; Ivory's mother was Dragon's power and Ellianja was Dragon's Earth as she was the Earth-Caster in her mothers time, Syndills mother. It was clearly written, every name, and every child borne to the one whom was that particular holder of their parents power. The lines were infallible, the answer was Tatijana. One of Rhiannon's Daughters, the daughter of Spirit was Adriana's mother.

"I never actually met my mother, I was told that she knew what I was and disowned me, shortly after my birth, that my conception was nothing short of a forceful endearment" Adriana whispered, she had been semi-conscious throughout the family power tree, and now answered as she was able. "but there was a voice in my mind when I was a fledgling, a females, but she was not alone, I felt her move through me as though in the shadow realm, she was Walking Light in Shadowed Darkness" Adriana's eyes were open, her brilliant golden gaze dimmed and hollow, she was slipping away into the darkness of the Manilov males. "How are you feeling?" Ivory asked as she took in her pallid complexion.

"My insides are burning like acid, and I crave the hot blood running under Slavica's flesh, the vein that dances to her heart beat. My fangs keep bursting into my mouth just at the thought" Slavica skittered away from the younger girl and hid behind Ivory "I will resist it, you have my word. I would never sell my soul to my uncles, I would never dishonour myself, nor my mother, my lifemate, my family, or our prince" Adriana scrunched her eyes tightly, and calmed her raging heart, cooled the fires in her blood to a dim burn "I am a Dragonseeker, and no Dragonseeker has ever turned, I will not be the first!"

As the sun reached its peak in the sky both Manilovs succumbed to the call of their people to shut down their hearts and lungs and sleep. Ivory took hold of Slavica's mind with her permission and pulled her mortal body into a heavy laced mortal slumber; much akin to a coma, once the patterns and family-lineage tree was destroyed. It was however burned deeply into Ivory's mind and would be relayed back to her lifemate the instant she was able. There may be something in the Patterns that could be useful.

* * *

Razvan had long awoken before the other Carpathians alongside Zacarias whom he stood beside in the shadowed evening's sun. Both males combined thoughts and spells they had long been taught by the Dark Mage in hopes that he would not recognise his own teachings until it was too late. Zacarias had given Razvan his ancient blood, in efforts to bring him to full power and use the hidden Flare of the long lost and forgotten powers buried deep inside him to the surface. Zacarias took a steadying breath as he addressed another issue burning in his mind.

"I fear for the life of my lifemate, we are not yet completely bound and every moment she is not near me I feel the shadow of the vampire whispering even more. I can hear her struggles as she battles the darkness within her" Razvan turned his gaze towards his brother-kin. "What we need to know is how they were taken, How was it someone knew that both Adrianna and Ivory were in the chamber and performing the deep cleansing they did. That they both were to stand outside at some precise moment"

"You believe there is a traitor among the people?" Zacarias asked as he allowed his sable eyes to flow across the lands bathed in dimming sunlight. "We have known for sometime that there are some among us who are not true Carpathians, but are newly turned Vampires that are mere pawns to the masters. Distinguishing them is another difficulty, as we cannot tell who has turned to the darkness and who has not. There are many unmated males" they both stood still and silent a moment, until they were joined by Gregori. Zacarias glanced at the ancient hunter whom had harmed his lifemate on more than one occasion, noting the shadow woven into his soul, and the evil that lay chained by the light of his lifemate - Savannah.

"There may be a way, Upon taking Adrianna's blood I can see the shadows of Vampire within the male, I was to see them, and Adrianna to purge them" Gregori gave both males a speculative glance "what have you both been conversing about?" Razvan had a glint to his eyes, one that spoke in volumes, as he relayed the information back privately lest they be overheard by the traitor as more Carpathians were beginning to awaken "Keep this between the mated pairs, no single male shall know of this. We shall have Zacarias scan each of them with his new sight and find the traitor among us" Gregori understood the need for secrecy, that they could be under watch. "I believe we need a red herring, to fish out the traitor"

The three males entered the chamber once again, standing in the centre were long lost ancients as well as the newest additions to the species in the last fifty years. It was a sight to behold, as many had believed the Carpathians an extinct line. Gregori stepped forward to his father by mating, as well as his best friend and the Prince of the Carpathian people, he lowered his head as though looking at the ground, but Zacarias could actually see him conversing with Mikhail. There were subtle hints to the words that were unspoken, shimmers of light weaving into tight little threads as they conversed lightly.

"Zacarias I leave the hunt to you and Razvan" Mikhail spoke softly, earning him odd glances from those in the cavern. Both Carpathians lowered their heads in respect and understanding as they turned and surveyed the small enclosure. Zacarias' eyes gleamed over every male inside, each one of the mated pairs shone like a beacon of light, each interspersed with colours and shimmering light of unspoken thoughts between lifemates and other males in the area. The unmated males were darker, more shrouded in shadow, falling into the pit of bleak emptiness, of insanity. The Vampire. There were no lights, no soft shimmers of silken light that connected them to others, they were simply alone.

His amber flecked eyes touched one male that he knew nothing of, a male he had never seen before yet seemed an ancient such as he. '_Razvan who is this male behind the Prince? I have never seen him before' _Razvan took careful surveillance around the area, touching each face slowly so as not to alarm anyone, but could not come across this unknown male. '_There is no one else here Zacarias, only mated pairs and those of whom you should know. There is no one else' _Razvan answered. '_can you see someone else?'_

'_I have never seen him before, odd, since when has he been here? I never saw him enter, nor did I hear the others welcome him into the circle. He stands in Shadows, sees and hears all we say. I can see the darkness circling him like a lover, creeping into his body. His face is distorted, Vampire hidden by charm and deceit, he walks among us unseen' _Zacarias took the moment to speak aloud "Most unsettling" Razvan approached his twin and placed her hand into his own. Immediately Natalya nodded her head and began to chant alongside her brother;

_Soul lost to shadow, caught in its snare_

_Here to harm, those in our care_

_Vampire lost and Carpathian found_

_Reveal yourself, our twinned words profound_

_You shall not hold our souls in pain_

_Your body and spirit seen once again_

_Hear our words, hear our cry_

_Appear now, and speak to us you spy!_

Immediately the shadows buckled and spilled as a lone male stood behind the prince. Mikhail and Gregori took in the appearance of the male lost to Shadows. "State your name" Gregori ordered as his elder brothers approached around him. "Took you long enough, I can now truly understand her power" he spoke with a sneer, then turned to Zacarias "She gave you the sight to see the shadows, those of us whom were Vampire, whom were killed in the hands of so called justice. We are shadow bound spirits, essences of Vampires lost to the darkness, waiting for our blinding beacon to die so we may become whole once again" he growled lowly "the beacon is dimming, she is turning. With her soul she can either damn us into an eternity of Shadow, or she can release us into a world of blood and death. We have long fought for freedom, and now it may finally be upon us"

"We, who are 'we' that you speak of?" Razvan questioned. "Those of us she has turned from Vampire to Shadow, she started with myself, and I have long tried to kill her from the shadows, but I have no body, no form. Once I almost succeeded when she was week and the barrier between herself and this world was thin. Now she will release me of her own free will and I shall take her head and bathe in her blood" he laughed. Zacarias punched his fight directly into the chest cavity of the male, only to touch nothing. "I am shadow-bound Carpathian, you cannot touch me, you cannot wound me, I can however do this;" the Shadow warrior made an awful grating sound that was much akin to the sound of talons raking upon a slate of limestone, the sound shrieking in their ears causing them to wince.

More shadows came fourth from the darkness and looked into the eyes of the Carpathians before them. "we are going to destroy you, our army of Shadow Vampires are no match for you, we are faster, stronger and more cunning than your regular turned Carpathian, we are the Generals of her Shadow Army, she is our Queen, and through her death we shall reign".

* * *

Read and Review Please,

Just so I know I'm not writing a load of Rubbish

Many thanks.

I'm updating more frequently too, instead of once a month i've actually updated three times this month


	12. Chapter 12

_Dense wolf's thickets dark with fear,_

_There's no way you can hide in here…_

_The truth and lie I both can see_

_Lycanthrope, extinct I be._

_-Mary-Ann De La Cruz_

* * *

It had been an interesting start to the nights rising. Tatijana and Branislava entered the cavern only to see the shadows of warriors long lost to death and destruction, long since turned to the Vampire within and purged for their sins against the people. Both twins allowed their eyes to settle over the shadowed beings, until Tatijana gasped aloud and held her stomach protectively as though there were a ghost of something there. Branislava approached the eldest twin Dratazzanoffs Gabriel and Lucian and enquired the meaning of the malevolent spirits in the cavern of healing and light. As Gabriel and Lucian gave Branislava the complete clipped version, Tatijana approached the Shadow, somewhat enthralled by something she could not name.

She hazily remembered something in her past, long since forgotten, forced from her mind as though it had never occurred, yet her body cried out for centuries for a loss so profound she had no words to describe its feeling, usually she had simply ignored it, a phantom of something but as she stared at this shadow it crept upon her once again. Her heart lurched as she fought against the waves of pain, the onslaught of nothingness holding off memories that she yearned for, wanting to know why her body screamed out like it did. Her arms had felt empty, her heart laboured for love that had been ripped from her bosom, for the small bundle of life she fleetingly held with such tenderness and affection.

The shadow turned to her, and finally acknowledged her presence "Oh damned mother! I beseech thee, tell me does your heart still feel empty as that fateful rising long ago? Tell me have you regained memories of that moment in time when I took from you something you will never again touch or hold?" Tatijana's hand still sprayed her abdomen, feeling the lightest of memories of a voice, soft musical and whimpering in pain. Branislava and all other Carpathians turned to the shadow and the Dragonseeker triplet. "You did something to me, you took something that was never yours. You violated my body and planted something inside me" the shadow laughed "you recall then. Tell me Oh damned mother, how often you hear the screams of the child you never saw. How often did you hear that child whimper in agony as you lay entombed in your icy prison? How often did you think of that Child?" he laughed and those all around him followed in a heavy taunt.

"You haven't, you never once gave that child a moment of your time, of your love or your thought. It has grown up knowing nothing but death and pain, destruction and hate. And now it will open the gates and allow hell to walk the Earth and bleed every human dry. Kill all those who dare oppose us. You gave birth to the most damned of all children, and I am its father, you and I sired a child so lost in destruction that it will never see life; only death" Tatijana shrieked in fury as Branislava ran to her and held her tight "You lie! Tatijana has never left my side, I would have seen her swollen with child. Tatijana has no lifemate, only a lifemate can place a child within a females body" she accused.

"If that were true how were your entire lineage formed. Dragonseekers have never been conceived in unity of lifemates. Razvan is ample proof of that, even you and your living triplet. It is the fate that _all _Dragonseekers are born into death, destruction and lies" the shadow retorted. Gregori approached Tatijana as the shadows faded away laughing with malicious intent. "Can I take a look into your body Tatijana, I can tell you instantly if it is all true" Her blue-green eyes swam in sorrow and pain, as she nodded her head. Gregori instantly shed his body and flowed into her with healing white light.

Moments later he re-emerged and turned his gaze directly upon Branislava "Her womb is stretched. The muscles and tissue are damaged by the nestling of an egg. The walls inside her womb are strained and wavered where her amniotic sack would have cushioned a small life within. Everything indicates that Tatijana was pregnant with Child, that she gave birth naturally to this child" Tatijana released a keen wail of despair "I remember nothing! I have no memory of a child, I have no recollection of a son or a daughter. Bronnie I have never seen my child, I know not if it lives or is dead"

* * *

Adriana awoke to the scent of blood. It was everywhere, heady; sweet and appealing in her current state of mind. She allowed her eyes to open fractionally and snapped them shut turning her face away as she saw Slavica laying opposite her, a bloody wound in her shoulder. Her eyes were closed in heavy slumber, no doubt her aunt had induced it to protect her. She herself was no longer bound, and with the scent of the fresh blood that was a bad omen. Adriana looked for something to tie herself down with, but there was nothing. She took a light shallow breath and held it for as long as she could, save breathing in the scent of the mortal woman's blood. "Ivory awaken" she hissed as she tried to conserve her breath.

Ivory slowly came to consciousness, allowing her heart to beat once again, for her lungs to suck in oxygen for her depraved organs after a deep slumber. She instantly hissed and sucked in a baited breath as she too scented the blood. Antique gold eyes cut over to her niece whom was lying opposite the mortal woman no longer bound by chains, Slavica was still unconscious and now harboured a gash in her shoulder. "It was not I, however would you wake her and move her away from me!" Adriana growled as she turned her body in the opposite direction to the scent. Ivory slipped into Slavica's mind and pulled her out of the darkness, telling her that she was wounded, and not to be alarmed.

Slavica groaned against the pain in her shoulder, at the fire burning her blood. But moved away slowly so as not to further tempt the other female she shared her chamber with. Adriana gathered herself mentally and crawled to the corner of the cell, wrapping her arms about her legs she sat with her head back against the wall, her golden eyes closed and barely inhaling. They spent the better part of a few hours in silence, keeping a distance from one another.

Ivory pulled at her chains as she struggled once more for freedom, her stomach was beginning to gnarl in hunger, and she looked over her niece. If she was feeling hunger pangs from the last few risings, what was Adriana facing? She felt a warmth spread through her, the touch of Razvan through their connection. _Ivory can you feel me? _she smiled at the gentle probing of her lifemate in her mind _Razvan! Tell me you are bringing an entire legion of Carpathians to us _she sent back along with an image of him leading the army, a futile gesture of humour that she truly did not feel. _Ivory I feel your pain, your hunger. We are coming to you, we were in the midst of finding the one who betrayed you both. Zacarias has found himself drawn to shadows and vampire turned. Something he learned from Adriana. _there was a long pause _How is she?_ he asked, and Ivory turned to her niece.

_Not good, I fear it will be hours before she gives in. she is fighting so hard and yet she is being consumed by hunger and tortured with the scent of blood. The mortal woman has been wounded purposely for her to feed upon. Adriana has distanced herself, but it will not be long, the light is no longer bright in her eyes. _she answered as she watched her niece carefully, watching as she barely breathed as her hands gripped herself tightly, her nails digging into her flesh as she ground her teeth. _We have been confronted by Vampire Shades they are awaiting the moment she turns to be released unto the Earth once more, you must keep her sane and focused. _Razvan said to her after he relayed all information to the others amongst them.

_I will try with everything I have, but you must hurry Razvan _Ivory whispered in his mind. Razvan turned to the gathered hunters; the Dratazzanoffs, Dubrinsky's and De La Cruz's "Adriana is beginning to subside to the darkness, Slavica has been given a flesh wound to entice her to the side of the Vampires. At present she is resisting as best she can, but Ivory fears she will soon turn. They are hungry and being taunted with Slavica's blood" All the hunters gathered growled in accordance with this news and sought a solution. "Adriana will not turn, she is more determined than any male I know. She holds the strength of a Dragonseeker in her heart. She will resist" Zacarias announced. _that is because she is Dragonseeker_ Ivory answered as she listened to the conversation and added her own argument. Razvan stilled at her words making all those in the room to look at him. _Ivory we are aware that the Manilov line is of the Dragonseekers, but you are not directly it was meant to be your brothers _he returned then spoke aloud to the others in the cavern. "Ivory knows she is of the Dragonseeker lineage through her Mother, that her brothers once held the power"

_I know, and in turning against the Prince the line fell to the females as No Dragonseeker has ever turned. But Razvan there is something you do not know. _Razvan immediately sucked in a breath and cut his eyes to Tatijana his Aunt, as he heard Ivory's declaration and shared her findings through what she and Slavica had found the previous rising. All Carpathians male and female, awaited his words. But when none came Mikhail questioned "What? What has Ivory said to you" Razvan did not answer but instead dropped to his knees in the earth and began to draw lines and names in the ground.

Razvan looked over the names once again ensuring he had written them correctly for all the others to witness. Dominic and Rhiannon were the twins of Dragon's Flame, one twin was Killed and the other still lived, but held the power of two, until the next was born and passed. Soren - Who would have been Dragon's Tears, Branislava Dragon's Breath, Tatijana Dragon's Spirit, Reina Manilov; Ivory's mother was Dragon's power and Ellianja was Dragon's Earth as she was the Earth-Caster, Syndills mother. It was clearly written, every name, and every child borne to the one whom was that particular holder of their parents power.

"There are eight living Dragons Flame and each is connected by their blood and parentage look" he pointed to the first names and followed writing beside under each power.

Each living flame (including Razvan's daughters*)

Dragons Earth - Syndill

Dragons Breath - Skyler*

Dragons Fire (twins) - Razvan, Natalya (and Colby* taking Rhiannon's place)

Dragons Tears - Lara *

Dragons Power - Ivory

Dragons Spirit - Adriana

And the Past Flames, including three still amongst the living and the ones now gone;

Dragons Earth - Ellijana

Dragons Breath - **Branislava**

Dragons Fire (twins) - **Dominic**, Rhiannon

Dragons Tears - Soren

Dragons Power - Reina

Dragons Spirit - **Tatijana**

The lines were infallible. One of Rhiannon's Daughters, the daughter of Spirit was Adriana's mother. Tatijana gasped and held the name in her heart "Adriana born in Darkness, never to see the light" she whispered though all heard her clearly "That is what Xavier said when he took her" she seemed silent as she touched her hand to her flat belly. "I had a daughter, and I never knew her" Tatijana searched deep into herself and found a long erased path of light, a thin streak in her mind that held no real connection. It had faded and frayed into nothingness. "I never once spoke to her, I have shunned my only child" Branislava held her twin tightly as she followed the path in her mind. "We're twins, perhaps we can touch her together"

Adriana trembled, her breaths coming in short pants as she battled against herself. Hot blood tears leaked from her eyes, and began a trail down her cheeks, burning in the touch of the Vampire inside her. She felt as though she were burning from the inside, hot and painful. Her lungs constricted and ached, her stomach rebelled in hunger, her fangs had long since exploded in her mouth and begged to be sunk into soft inviting flesh of the mortal woman in the cell. _Adriana? _a soft voice broke into her mind, a woman's, strong and powerful, wise and trembling with shame and remorse. She lifted her head to look around the tightly pressed cell, cutting through the darkness she could see Ivory and Slavica conversing between themselves. _Leave me be _she pleaded with a tremble to her thoughts. Fearing the voice of the unknown woman was the final moment she lost to the darkness inside.

_Adriana, Please, I am so sorry for never being there for you _She lifted her hands to her ears as if that could shut out the sound, she opened her mouth and inhaled deeply, taking in the blood spoors in the cell "Leave me alone!" she screamed into the darkness. Ivory and Slavica both turned to her instantly, noting that the younger Manilov was beginning to crack. She began to weep in fear and pain as she heard more words flowing into her mind _Do not be afraid child, I would never harm you. Not intentionally, Adriana I'm your birth mother _Adriana ground her teeth and clenched her hands into tight fists as she fell into despair and darkness "Get out of my head! Get out! Get out of my head!" she screamed repeatedly. Slavica hid behind Ivory watching as the other female screamed and thrashed about in the corner of the cell.

* * *

_Razvan something's wrong! _Ivory hissed immediately to her lifemate, allowing him to see through her eyes as Adriana thrashed wildly in her corner, her hands covering her ears, her fingernails digging into her skull. _Calm her, somehow you must calm her._ he spoke with sadness that he was losing one of the females to the Dark Mage and the Madness of the Vampire. "Adriana!" Ivory called out, as she watched her niece lose herself in fits of screams and violent thrashings. "Do you know anything of our healing methods Slavica?" she watched as the mortal grimaced tightly and shook her head. "I will place words in your mind, they are soft and quelling, you will need to sing them with me. We need to calm her, and we need to do it now" Slavica nodded her head and awaited as she felt the words being placed gently into her mind. The words were beautiful and gentle. Ivory pulled on the words form all Carpathians, held the words tight to her heart as she sang the Carpathian Lullaby of the people.

Adriana continued in her whimpering but ceased her violent movements, she lifted her head to her aunt and looked at the prone woman being held prisoner on the cold stone floor. Her eyes touched on the mortal woman hiding behind her and she hissed before clenching her eyes tight and turning away. _I am losing her Razvan! Her eyes are as black as midnight that shine with a ruby flame, she is being torn from us. I cannot help her_ she sobbed into her lifemates mind as she looked at her niece, losing every shred of herself.

Zacarias snapped his head towards Tatijana and Branislava. He hissed and growled at the twins as he approached them, his fingers curled in anger and aggression "Stop! You are hurting her" he spoke lowly. Branislava lifted her gaze to the eldest De La Cruz "My sister is merely trying to touch her daughter on the path she should have access to, are you denying a mother her daughter?" she quipped "No, but Adriana is not in the right frame of mind, Tatijana is pushing her over the edge, stop her now or I will!" Bronnie ignored his threat and turned to her sister "I will not allow him to harm you sister, continue, you will get through to her" Zacarias saw with his eyes the shadow that enveloped Branislava, the way it curled and seeped into her body, filling her soul with evil and damnation. Heard the true voice of the one whispering to Tatijana, a Vampire Shade.

He felt Adriana scream out through his soul, felt as she began to slip further into the darkness where he fell into before being pulled out. He felt her heart constrict and beat a tattoo, frantically trying to catch a non-blood filled breath. "Enough!" he barked and leapt against the twins. Bronnie lifted a hand and created a shadow barrier around the two of them as Zacarias was grabbed and held by Mikhail and Jacques. "Keep going Tatijana, keep calling out to our daughter. You are the key to killing the Dragon's spirit. Your voice in the deepest, darkest moments will drive her into insanity and she will belong to the Vampire. She will release us into the world and we will kill all in it, that's it, keep calling out to her" Bronnie voiced smoothly. Gabriel and Lucian approached the twins and attempted to pull the barrier down. "Tsk, only a vampire can remove this barrier, and you hunter are a mated male, long from the Vampire's touch"

Razvan looked to his brother "Release him, Zacarias is more Vampire than any of us, he can break the spell over Branislava" Mikhail and Jacques let him go, and allowed him to approach the twin females. He placed his hand on the shadow and hissed as the touch of pure Vampire evil burned against his flesh. _Adriana do not give in! I will release you._


	13. Chapter 13

_13_

_A drop of blood, of tears-a-drip,_

_breath of slayer, Skin of wolf_

_Lock of hair from mine own kin,_

_I create a death of all within one_

_- Xavier_

* * *

Zacarias pushed himself deeper into the barrier that felt as though he were swimming through heavy liquid. Bronnie hissed and growled at the Dark Hunter that was inching his way closer to the enthralled twins. "No Dark Hunter should be able to touch the shadow of a Vampire and still be in possession of his immortal soul" she sneered. Zacarias huffed in answer "I hold a Dark Soul, and my other half is a Vampire borne-Dragonseeker. She tethers me and I her" with another forceful push against the powers of the Vampire Shade, Zacarias reached out and touched Bronnie on the forearm. Once he made contact with her body he thrust his mind into hers and found her cornered by darkness.

Inside her own body Bronnie's soul was being taunted and cajoled into the darkness. Zacarias flooded the area with his light, half his body submerged into the light; holding the hole open for their escape. His light was a warm amber with the feel of tortured darkness. He realised in that moment that despite her failing attempts to save herself from the stark touch of the Vampire and evil threatening to consume her, Adriana was with him. Bronnie reached out to Zacarias, her hand mere inches from his when the ice cold touch of a Vampire laced through their souls. _Hurry! _He bellowed as she reached for him once more. The shadows moved closer, becoming tighter against them, eating the light and bathing it in darkness. One shadow leapt towards the two, Zacarias not being able to release the hole of light and freedom desperately clawed to take Bronnie's hand, but repeatedly missed.

The shadow was confronted instantly by a young shimmering female. Her body was almost as shadowed as the one she stood before, only her eyes were holding refuted light, along with a fading heart and soul. She snarled and fought the shadow, pushing it back away from Bronnie. The eldest Dragonseeker female hauled herself into the light, reaching for Zacarias and freedom. As her hand slipped into his she heard the shadowed one behind her _Forgive me, I cannot fight any longer_.

Zacarias held Bronnie in his muscled arms as she came into focus, she snapped her eyes open wide and pulled Tatijana to herself begging her to stop calling the young female to her death. Tatijana turned her huge blue-green eyes to her twin, as tears flowed unchecked down her face "Its too late, she's gone" Razvan fell to his knees alongside all the children of Dragons flame as a soul destroying cry filled them through their combined souls. It was so intense that they all clamoured for breath as they turned towards others in the cavern. "Zacarias she is slipping into darkness, nothing is holding it at bay. Tatijana's words have sent her careening over the edge of madness. She is lost"

Zacarias followed the path to his lifemates mind, though not completely belonging to each other as the ritual had not been finished, he found the path being erased inch by slow inch. There was a void in his mind when he reached out to her, a darkness that was icy cold like death. The heartbeat on the other end was frantic and quivering until that began to fade into the emptiness. _forgive me_ he felt her last words rush through him, hold him and caress his body and spirit until it dissolved into nothing. "No! She will not be left to the Vampire. I know my lifemate, she's more strong willed even passed her turning point" he spoke lowly, looking into the eyes of every Carpathian in the cavern.

All hunters and Dragon's flames turned to the night and flew into the skies on the wings of Raptors as they raced to the Alpine Ridge in the Mountains. Following the challenged call of the Master Vampire. To release Ivory and Slavica, and reduce one Adriana Manilov; Vampire to nothing more than a pile of damned ashes.

* * *

Slavica turned to Ivory as Adriana began to crawl on her belly towards the human woman. The black pits of her eyes glowed with a red flame as she looked at the bloody wound on the woman's shoulder "Adriana, no! You will continue to fight it" those fathomless depths fell on her aunt, a sneer of a smile showed fangs in her mouth. She inched her way closer and closer until she almost had Slavica in her grasp, Ivory kicked at her hands to keep them from the mortal whose life now seemed to be over the moment her niece touched her.

_Vampire child, in the throes of pain_

_Open your eyes and see yourself again_

_Dragonseeker with the pure heart_

_You shall not turn, with her blood be the start_

_Hold your pain and bind it tight_

_Your oath to Manilov might_

_No Dragonseeker hath ever turned_

_You shall not be the first, else you be eternally burned!_

Adriana looked to her aunt as though she recognised her for a brief moment, only to turn her bottomless gaze to the human woman once again as she salivated looking at the blood. Adriana managed to wrap her bony fingers around Slavica's ankle and pulled her closer to death. Ivory hissed and screamed, as Slavica was in her niece's arms. She descended her lips to the bloodied wound on the mortals shoulder, her tongue peeked out from pink lips, and laved at the blood. Slavica hissed as she felt the tongue touch her wound, as the girls hands gripped her tight like a tourniquet, pressing more of the rubied liquid into the path of her tongue.

The cell door burst open and splintered against the stone wall on the opposite side. Ruslan stood in the frame, a sardonic smile on his lips as he witnesses his niece lost to the Vampire within, tasting her bloodied sacrifice with fevered ardour. He took two steps then peered at his sister "you have lost Ivory; there is nothing more to the Manilovs. Come to us, join us, you shall find freedom and all the blood you could ever want -" he paused as he approached his sister. "Rivers will flow with it, the ground be soaked in the colour. When Adriana brings fourth the Vampire shades from the shadow-realm our brothers will once again walk the earth. The power of the Manilovs will reign supreme" he lifted her face to him, stared into her shining eyes that held back tears. "_sisar - _join us, our family is the most powerful on this Earth, there are seven of us and we are more powerful together. Renounce your Dragon's Flame and join the Vampire" Ivory turned her eyes to her eldest brother and spat in his face. "Never!"

Ruslan hissed and turned away "You will change your mind" he promised as he turned to his niece "Adriana come, your army awaits your command to rise" she left the woman laying on the ice cold ground and followed her uncle into the darkness, leaving Ivory alone with her thoughts and broken heart. It felt as though hours had passed until there was movement opposite her, Slavica opened her eyes and stared into shining Amber, much like a candles flame "is it clear to move?" she asked. Ivory's mouth opened then closed repeatedly as she stared at the mortal woman who was supposed to be dead. "How?" she began as she moved from the spot on the floor and approached Ivory with a key that had been left underneath her body. "Your niece used me as a decoy, she healed my wound, she told me to lie still and hold my breath. Then count to one-hundred when they left the cell before I could move to be certain it was clear," she said as she placed the key into the lock and turned it, freeing one of Ivory's hands.

"she said to tell you, 'No Dragonseeker has ever turned and I will walk into the sun, long before I lose my soul' she is playing a very dangerous game with that Vampire" Ivory smiled at the thought, her niece was struggling against the pain and the torture. She was playing along with the Vampire, only a game this dangerous would serve to get her killed. "Let's go!" Ivory whispered as she stood for the first time in seven risings. Her stomach lurched in hunger and cramped uncontrollably, sending white spots into her vision as a result, she hissed at the sudden moment of weakness and held onto the wall for support. Before pushing off and walking carefully into the darkness of Xavier's fortress.

Adriana walked beside her uncle in silence; her soul was warring against the darkness. She heard every taunt, jibe and whisper of the Vampire within, but held as desperately as she could to the small dimming part of herself that was still pure. She followed her uncle and came across Xavier, the High Mage. He was old and hunched in on himself, using his staff as a walking cane, leaning heavily upon it. The huge opalescent stone that sat atop in the cradle flared a moment as if it recognised her, then dimmed and hummed a discordant note. Xavier looked over her body, smiled in some sick twisted satisfaction then turned to Ruslan. "Summon Vadim, there is something that must be taken care of before the hunters arrive" she and her uncle were soon joined by Vadim Manilov. Without a moment to allow her heart to beat both males grabbed her viciously by the upper arms. She thrashed and hissed at their touch, her blackened eyes boring deep into them "You see my dear; you have not quite relinquished your soul to the Vampire yet. You managed to fool your uncle, but you cannot fool me" he raised the staff over her head and closed his eyes.

_Bind her memories, keep them tight_

_I call upon the power of Mage plight_

_Within her blood is the Blood of all_

_Created and damned this body a squall_

_Borne of a union by Dragon and Vampire_

_I tainted and turned this one against her sire_

_Now bind her, turn her, and make her whole_

_Vampire Princess of the Shade realm stole_

Adriana dropped to the stone as fire raced through her body. It felt as though her insides were liquefying, as her spine crackled and burnt under the onslaught. Her ears rang as voices of the damned called out to their Queen for release. Her lungs filled with flame fuelled blood, her eyes leaked the red crimson liquid as she cried out under the weight. Then all she knew was darkness, endless pitiless darkness. Yet in that bleak nothingness Shadows moved and danced, holding blood red eyes that held Vampire souls. She smiled as she saw them, then turned her attention to Xavier and her uncles "What do you wish of me and my army?" Vadim and Ruslan growled a lowly laugh as Xavier turned towards the entrance of the Alpine Ridge awaiting the arrival of the Carpathians. "You will annihilate every Carpathian starting with the Prince and his second"

* * *

Gregori, Lucian, Gabriel and Darius flew into the cave first, followed by Mikhail and Jacques then the De La Cruz brothers guarding their rear. Nicolae and Virkinoff perched on their flanks. Razvan guarded their lifemates along with Traian and Byron as they remained outside waiting for the signal to begin the casting of the lost souls into the light. Tatijana and Bronnie looked helplessly into the darkness, never again wanting to be prisoner to their father; Xavier again.

All thirteen males took their full forms once again as they edged into the darkness of Xavier's fortress. The sounds of pain, the scents of blood and the touches of death permeated the small cavern. Zacarias growled as he felt Adriana's scream of torture echo all around him. "This is one huge trap, the walls reek of torture and death, promising annihilation to all of us" Gabriel announced in a harsh whisper. It mattered not, they still ventured deeper and further into the darkness. They came across a deep room filled with brightly coloured orbs of milky light. Standing on the ridge at the furthest point were Vadim, Ruslan, and Adriana. Xavier stood behind them on another plateau higher above them, holding his staff with a wicked glint in his sliver eyes.

"Adriana!" Zacarias called out, she sneered at him showing off her fangs. He took a step towards her before he was grabbed by Gabriel. "There's something not right about this. She hasn't turned completely. I can see her soul. Its trapped inside herself" Zacarias declared as he inched to get closer, but the iron grip of the Twinned Dratazzanoff would not let go. Xavier laughed "Your lifemate is dead De La Cruz; there is nothing more left of her but the shell of her former self. She is Vampire and nothing more" he taunted. The crystals glowed against the power in the cavern, humming ominously. "Release her!" Zacarias bellowed "You want her, fine then you take home a corpse, Adriana call your Army" Adriana stepped forward away from the safety of her uncles as she lifted her arms and began to chant, her notes eerie and discordant calling upon the Vampire Shades,

_Vampire Shades lost to Justice touch_

_Your Damned Princess calls you_

_To your Dark Souls I call you rise_

_Walk the Earth to Carpathian demise_

_Follow the commands I doth speak_

_Havoc and mayhem you are to reek_

_Through Dragons Flame this soul was borne_

_To Vampire Shade she now is torn_

_Those long lost to Vampire Snare_

_Rise up! Rise up! Through Manilov Flare_

_I am one of the Seven_

_Children that fell from Dragon Heaven_

_We walk the Earth and make it cower_

_I call you now, to my power!_

Thunderous sounds echoed throughout the chamber, the sounds of stomping feet, marching. In the shadows all around, shapes stretched and moved, they formed large males broad and menacing. Powerful when they were once pure souls. They filled the cavern in hoards and droves, covering the distance between Xavier and the Hunters. "This is not good!" Lucian hissed to his brothers, then looked at the Prince "Gregori, get him out of here, it is going to be a bloodbath" Mikhail was ushered through the hunters towards the exit when another Manilov female caught their attention high up above them.

Ivory looked down upon the masses of Vampire shadows covering the area between her niece and the hunters "Oh Adriana what have you done?" she whispered before voicing her thoughts aloud "Adriana stop! Call them back" the younger Manilov turned her pitiless eyes towards her aunt, as she gathered power in her hands. Dark, coiling and malevolent. Zacarias saw as she gathered the darkness in her grasp her eyes holding her aunt in her sights as he called out to her, pushing past some of the Vampire Shades before him "Adriana No! Don't!" but her lips were moving, the words were forming along with the build up of power. She looked once at her lifemate, no longer seeing him as such, only a male in her way

_Your words I hear but not obey_

_I am lost to the darkness I cannot find my way_

_The path is shadowed and paved in blood_

_My soul is blackened and no longer pure_

_My thirst for blood and death will be my cure_

She turned once more to her aunt as she finished her chant, the power tangible and billowing in her hands.

_I belong to the Vampire realm_

_Vampire Princess, with Shades at my helm_

_Carpathians are now to mourn_

_Dragon's daughter ripped and torn_

_Slit your throat and bleed you dry_

_Ivory Manilov, Aunt - Goodbye._

With her last words she threw the billowing masses of dark power at her aunt. Ivory screamed out as it flew towards her and Slavica. The mortal woman let out a blood chilling shriek then fell silent, the cavern shook and showered fragments of rock and debris all around where both females one stood. The hunters turned to the youngest Manilov as she sneered "You should have joined us Ivory, It would have been better than death" the remark sent the entire contingent of males including Gregori and Mikhail into a frenzy. Each gathered their power in every tangible manner they could and began slashing at the Vampire shades.

Adriana was approached by three more Vampire shadows, each dropped to their knees in salute to their Princess, they rose and were reformed into soluble body once more "Uncles," Adriana greeted Kirja and Maxim then turned to the third Shadow as it rose "Father" Sergey stood tall and looked into the Eyes of his other brothers. He cracked his knuckles then thrust his fist into his daughter's chest. The air flew from her lungs in a spray of blood

"repayment for taking my life, you have served your purpose to rise the Vampires from the Shadows. Now you can take our places. Everything comes with a price Adriana" with a twist of his hand he wrenched her red pulsing heart from her chest and threw it to the ground, where it rolled off the edge. The veil dropped from her eyes, allowing the amber to leak into them. She cast her golden eyes around and saw what she had brought about, the end of the Carpathians. She was a fool. And buried deep in Vampires were all the paired Hunters fighting valiantly, as well as her lifemate. _Zacarias _she whispered as she dropped to her knees in what felt like freeze motion.

He looked up at her and roared, as his lifemate sunk to her knees, a whole in her chest where her heart had been ripped out. The antique rusty amber colour told him, that she was finally free of Xavier's hold on her soul that now the Vampire shades had been summoned he no longer had a use for her. His black eyes cut to the five Manilov brothers, and the blood that coated Sergey's wrist to his elbow. Her own father had taken her heart! Adriana collapsed to the stone ground, her body crumpling into limbs and blood. Zacarias fought hard and desperate to get to his lifemate, when he watched her father approach her, then brutally kick her over the ledge with his foot.


	14. Chapter 14

_14_

_Dust to dust collect and bind_

_Arms and legs with power filling,_

_Be my trusty servants willing._

_Or you'll be scattered to the wind._

_- Natalya Von Shrieder_

* * *

Adriana felt disconnected from her body, but her hazy mind held onto what she had done. She pulled on the remainder of her life-force calling her heart to her body. It was an agonizing experience. Blood filled her lungs, her throat, her eyes nose and mouth. Her body was heavier than lead and struggling to remain conscious. She knew with such a mortal wound she should stop the blood flowing through her organs and leaking out onto the stone beneath her and fall into the slumber of her people until she could be healed once more. But the sights, scents and sounds of fighting kept her from making that choice, no longer able to use any of her senses she allowed her mind to reach out and fill her soul with what remained of herself.

_I call to the vampires released from hell_

_The one whom released you has seen the light_

_Released and bound her heart removed_

_Return to the shadows on the wings of death_

_You shall not have your revenge here_

_Upon my lifeblood I use the remainder of my soul_

_My life means nothing more, your guide to hell I must be_

_To atone my sins of Manilov family_.

Adriana felt two large heavily muscled hands touch her skin. Felt as she was raised up to another though could not see a face. She heard sounds but could not make out a voice, just felt as breath touch her face, as liquid touched her failing body.

Zacarias had fought hard and without reprieve, desperately attempting to get to his lifemate. He had long furrows etched into his skin where Vampire talons had raked at his flesh. But his determination to reach Adriana was all that was burned in his mind, as he finally reached her his heart beat a frantic tattoo. She was covered in blood leaking from all her organs and pouring from her gaping chest wound, she had not stopped the blood flow and put herself into deep sleep where she could be healed, she had remained awake. "Adriana! Adriana look at me" her body trembled, air escaped her lungs in gurgled gasps as blood bubbled within them. "Why didn't you stop your bleeding? Why are you still conscious? Adriana enough!" when she didn't take heed Zacarias looked around and felt the body heat of the other hunters surrounding him.

Each hunter held a bloodied wound that would be gone by the next rising, their black, gold and silver eyes staring down upon the two Dark Souls that held onto fleeting life on the ground "She banished all the Vampire Shades with the last shred of her soul light. She is fading Zacarias, there is nothing we can do for her" Gregori, Lucian and Gabriel turned their gazes to the plateau above where the five Manilov brothers stood firm beside Xavier. "Why are the Manilov brothers still whole? They were Vampire shades, yet they have not dispelled along with the others" Lucian growled.

"Maxim and Kirja made a Vampire oath to Xavier and took blood from Vadim and Ruslan, and Sergey took Adriana's heart. They are whole once again, the five Manilov brothers are restored" a feminine voice answered as she approached on unsteady limbs. Nicolae and Vikinoff caught both Ivory and Slavica as they began to lose their strength "Ivory, you are unharmed, We saw her throw that mass of darkness at you" Ivory pulled herself out of Vikinoffs arms and approached her niece "it was all a ruse, Adriana was staging the biggest ploy against Xavier and my brothers, Slavica and I were merely playing along" She touched her nieces face, wiping away some of the blood. "Adriana you must hold on, we will reunite your soul to your body as we do your heart"

Gregori being the healer looked over the fallen female "Ivory, her wounds are far more extensive than you realise. Her heart has been ripped from her chest, her soul is not in her vessel. She is gone, riding a sea of pain and suffering the longer you allow her body to bleed out. Put her to sleep Zacarias and allow her a peaceful death" Zacarias held her body close to himself, burying his face into her blood soaked hair. "she is strong, she will survive" he growled. Daring anyone to remove her body from him.

Lifting her broken body into his arms Zacarias turned and left the cavern, Ivory followed at her own slow pace, as she stumbled and followed Zacarias numbly. Outside; the children of the Dragon stood in a half circle, chanting to themselves a small iridescent light held in the thralls of shadows. Razvan broke off the group along with Tatijana and approached the others. "Ivory, s_ivamet _I have worried over your safety, allow us to reunite Adriana's heart and soul to her and I shall see to your hunger and wounds" Tatijana placed a gentle hand on her daughters cheek and sobbed gently at the state she was in. "Place her in the circle, we need to hurry before dawn descends" she spoke softly "Her heart and soul have been held in a barrier of our creation however the shadows are attacking her, seeking her soul to drag into eternity, we must hurry" Natalya spoke quickly as she broke from the circle.

* * *

It was darker than a night without a moon, and colder than the mountains in the middle of winter. Adriana clutched herself as she shivered from the effects of walking through the shadow realm. Ice clung to rocks and formed evil glinting weapons that promised to spear her body for eternity. A screech welled up from beyond the darkness, one that was inhuman. Adriana ducked and rolled behind a large rock boulder as she allowed her golden eyes to scour the terrain, looking for any signs of what made such a horrific sound. Thunderous footsteps echoed all around her, the weight of hatred, evil and sin sucked the air of any warmth she could pull into her lungs, chilling her to the very core of her being.

"Adriana! Come out, come out we know you're here" a voice taunted wickedly promising pain and suffering. Adriana kept herself still, holding her breath as if it would stop anything from hearing her light breaths, but she could smell her own fear, almost taste and touch it. Fingers gripped the stone before her eyes, and hauled it from her as though it were nothing more than a feather in the way of an ant. "found you!" the shadow hissed. Firm arms caught her wrists, her legs, any part that was accessible to be grabbed. "you were supposed to release us, not sentence us back here upon your last breath. You are going to pay dearly for this act of carelessness, an eternity of pain and suffering should suffice"

She found herself being hauled towards a huge wooden cross laying deep in the snow. Many Vampires circled her, their skin pulled taut over their heads, brown stained fangs protruding from thinned lips, stained from old blood. The stench of fetid breath made Adriana gag as they grew closer. Four Vampires held her firm, holding a hand to each of the upper beams, another brought pikes, long and wicked, and another brought a mallet. Her heart pounded in fear as one pike was placed in the centre of her hand, the mallet hanging over it. With a full body fuelled strike the mallet connected with the pike and slammed into her flesh, soliciting a scream from the young Manilov.

The Vampires sneered and laughed, feeling a high from her pain. More pain ensued as her other hand met the same fate as well as her feet. "Long ago the Romans invented a manner in which prisoners could never escape if they managed to free themselves of the pikes" One Vampire snarled, lifting the mallet with cruel intent "by shattering the kneecaps of those whom were crucified" Adriana shook her head as no words could slip from her lips, but the Vampires had other plans. The mallet smashed against her knees shattering the bone instantly. Her lungs burned in the fury of her screams, yet the Vampires enjoyed every last second of her agony "crude yet effective".

The crucifix remained on the snow covered ground, stained with her blood. The vampires crowded close to her quivering body an evil gleam in their eyes. Adriana knew what was going to occur, by the way they licked dried lips. She clamped her eyes shut the moment they began to descend upon her, but the feel of fangs ripping into her flesh all over her body was excruciating. No number of screams could prevent the pain, but she continued, even after several Vampires tore into her throat and took great chunks of her flesh.

* * *

The circle of Dragons stood firm and tight, with the Dratazzanoffs behind them. Each called their own power, building it and making it bend to their wills. The Dragons chanted to their mother, the Earth and called upon the ancient powers buried deep within their souls. Zacarias sat in the centre of the circles, never relinquishing his fallen lifemate from his grasp. He vowed that if they could not bring her back on the rising of the dawn sun, that the remaining Carpathians were to leave them. That Zacarias would sit and be scorched upon the sun, with his dead lifemate in his arms. Intertwined in death as they were to be in life, forever and always.

The six remaining fragments of the Dragons flame sung and danced as they called for the heart and soul of their fallen sister or daughter, their voices rising in unison of one heart, one breath one soul; the Dragonseeker. Hands danced in vivid waves, patterns of all manners coated the dawning sky in myriads of colours as Ivory pulled the power to form a blanket to place over Adriana. The Dratazzanoffs sung the song of power, valour and courage - one of their sisters to have placed their life and heart into the most dangerous of all roles, to take on the Vampire and sadly lose to their evil.

Zacarias held his lifemate tenderly, watching as the heart they placed back into her chest quivered as it attempted futilely to reattach itself to its host. Adriana's eyes were closed, her lashes fanning her cheeks with a luscious curve of black satin. All colour had drained from her, she lay as white as the new snow that fell all around them, her delicate lips parted softly and holding a hint of blue amdist the soft peach. She was dying, and Zacarias was selfish not to cease her struggling heart and allow her the peace of a death in Slumber, but he felt her soul warring and screaming, that if he dared to allow her to slip into the recesses of death, she would be eternally suffering.

_Dragons children we beseech our celestial mother _

_We are the remaining flames of our Dragonseeker father_

_Our sister and daughter has been wounded to the point of death_

_She lays still as statue and breathe naught a breath_

_Her soul has been torn from her earth bound vessel _

_Thrust into shadowed darkness where her light wrestles_

_She will not live beyond the dawn_

_Her lifemate and she we lose and mourn_

_Help us! We call to thee, lend us your life eternal _

Syndill dug her hands into the snow, reaching deep until she found soil. She grabbed a handful, stepping forward she spat into the earth to rub it on Adriana's gaping wound. "_**I am your Cousin of earth, with my power of healing and the spit of my tongue I give you a piece of me, ground your soul to your Earth bound body**_"

Skyler approached Adriana, took her hands into hers as she breathed over her face with warmth "_**I am your Sister-cousin of Breath, take this offering so you might live. Take this breath so it fills your lungs and frees you from the blood that settles within**_"

Razvan and Natalya approached together, taking a hand each they allowed the heat of their bodies to flow through her hands. "**_I am your Uncle through lifemate bond, I give you my gift of heart searing love, take this of me and awaken_**" Natalya waited for her brother to share his gift. Then she spoke her heart soaring words "**_I am your Sister-aunt twin of Fire, I give you my gift of heat to warm your frozen body, take this kindness into your being and come alive once more_**"

Skyler approached the two within the circle of Dragons Flame, tears rolling down her cheeks "**_Adriana, I am your Sister-cousin of Tears, I shed these for your soul that is being beaten in the realms of shadows, you fought hard and lost the battle, but your strength of heart called to us, and we answered. I gift you my gift of heart so yours may heal, repair and beat once more. Come back to us sister_**"

Ivory and Branislava entered the circle next, Ivory favouring her left side hobbled to her niece, Bronnie held her in firm arms so she would not falter. "**_Strongest warrior you know me, you fought for me, beside me, but never against me, even when the odds were against you. You battled hard and tricked those that thought you incapable. You hold more love and compassion in your soul than I have ever seen_**." she turned her antique amber eyes to Bronnie, who completed her words with true power "**_You are a true Dragonseeker, and hold the power to turn those from the darkness. We give you our strength, rise up once again Dragonseeker_**!"

Tatijana waited until Ivory and Bronnie returned to their places before she approached, being the only one remaining. As she approached as Adriana's body convulsed in Zacarias' arms, blood slipping down her chin. "**_Adriana daughter, I am your mother. I know we have not met, have never spoken, never seen each other. But from what I hear from the other flames of our beloved Dragonseeker parents, you hold more spirit than our ancestor. You are high-spirited, and with that you endear all that comes with life. You don't judge those whom have given to the shadows, to the vampire. You have been savagely beaten, torn from your heart, your soul and those whom love you. Come back to us Adriana, come back to your life, come back to your siblings, to your family and to me. I want to be the mother you never knew. I want to be there for you, I want you to live so I might know you. Dragonseeker! Hear the roar of the dragon within you, follow the Spirit-light, follow your heart, return to your body, return to us_**"

**_The power of the Dragons Unite! _**came the voices of both Dominic and Colby as they filled their souls into the circle, the remaining two Dragons of fire that were not within casting distance. But cast their own power from afar to lend the light of the Dragon to the fallen one. Zacarias looked longingly to his lifemate willing her to come back, with all his heart and soul he called to her for hours, searching for a small glimmer of hope that she may take a breath of her own, one that he did not have to supply, or a beat of her heart that he did not have to create in rhythm with his own. But Adriana lay as dead, never once moving, never once breathing without aid; it was as though she had truly passed away.

Adriana heard sounds within her soul, felt the cool touch of Dragons breath on her cheek, the heat of Fire coursing through her veins. The scent of Earth filled her as soft tears rolled across her face. She recognised the feel of the ghosts on her flesh, yet she was without true body. Her soul was being tortured, her body was dead, back on the plateau in the cavern of Ice and death, ripped of its heart by her own father, the traitorous bastard. Her spirit roared for vengeance and justice as power ripped through her, yet she could not understand how she felt the ire of such when she was being slaughtered by the Vampires in the pits of the Shadow Realm. She turned her soul from such fleeting feelings, knowing that it was too late for her, that she was dead. The phantoms of feeling, were just that - phantoms. Likely another form of torture in this place that held her prisoner.

A roar shook the snow from the caps above, filled with rage and power. She opened her eyes and saw a great winged beast with a long serpentine neck, wedged head and rows of crystallised teeth. It roared once again, breathing fire and Ice, digging great powerful talons deep into the earth. Her golden eyes held the beast in her sights, she knew the beast intimately, knew its strengths; its power, its heart, soul and form. It was hers! _Spirit Dragon! _Adriana called out with her mind, calling the beast that dwelled within her soul. The great golden beast rose its head and stared at her with eyes so pale they rivalled the sun on the dawn morning. _you must make a decision Dragonseeker, chose now and chose wise. Here is nothing but a lingering death, torturous and unrelenting. Follow me, by becoming one once again. Dragon and Dragonseeker. Fly with me into the light, into the dawn, into the pain and agony of life. The choice is yours and I shall remain by your side whatever you choose._

The vampires sneered at her as she tried to pull from the wooden beams, against the pikes in her hands none of them seeing or hearing the Dragon in the Shadow realm. _I chose to live! Regardless of the pains and sufferings in life, I will always chose to be beside my lifemate and the mother I never met. I will take retribution on my father and swear to the Dragon within me, he will be destroyed! _Adriana's body began to disappear from the crucifix much to the Vampires dismay, she felt the detached feeling she always did when merged with her inner Dragon. The light warmed her face, the rain ran down her scales as though they were tears from heaven, the scent of Earth grounded her telling her where she needed to be, the heat of love and family raced through her being as Spirit engulfed her with its power.

Adriana gasped in Zacarias' arms, her eyes flew wide open as her hands held her chest. The agony of being flayed open, of muscles and sinew shredded apart assailed her mind. Her lungs were heavy with blood, her eyes sore from a thousand tears yet the look on her lifemates face was worth it. Zacarias held such love in his face she had never seen in all her existence that she would take the pain a thousand times over, just to see him so filled with elation and love for her. "Zacarias" she breathed shuddering as she smiled lightly, though it caused her much pain in the effort. "Ssh _Palafertiil_, sleep now, sleep deep. I will watch over you and protect you from your demons" Adriana closed her eyes of her own accord as she felt her lifemate take her heart and soul, wrap it in his warmth and push her into a deep comatose but merciful death-like slumber.

Zacarias turned his black eyes to the healer, "Please heal the worst of the wounds so I might take her to rest" Gregori left the outer circle of his brothers and sister, placing a hand upon her brow he turned to Zacarias "take her home, I will come to you. This is not a secure place to perform such a deep healing, there is no soil that Syndill can enhance, and we are still too close to Xavier's domain" Zacarias weighed the words in his mind, lifted his lifemates limp body into his arms and turned into the early pre-dawn closely followed by Tatijana, Bronnie, Razvan and Ivory.

"He thinks me not up to healing his lifemate" Gregori voiced as he stood beside Mikhail "Not at all, he is at war with his emotions, something even you once knew could rock your existence" Gabriel placed a large well muscled hand upon his brothers shoulder "He is afraid brother, afraid that if he closes his eyes or releases her she will disappear forever" Gregori sighed knowing his elder brothers were right "I concede, I will leave for them now, join me when all is cleared here" Gregori requested the males. The women all turned to the raptor within their minds and followed Mikhail and Gregori as they winged their way to Zacarias and Adriana, deep within the earth, far from Xavier and his Vampires.


	15. Chapter 15

**I did add Three Chapters in one sitting just the other day and received no feedback whatsoever from Chapters 12-14 which I have to admit was a little dissapointing. but here's the Next Chapter of my Fictional Piece under the Carpathian Series. I DO NOT own Christine Feehans novels, nor her Carpathian characters. I have done everything possible to keep them in Character as much as possible and true to the books.**

**Chapter 15/?**

**DARK SOULS...**Lifemates under DeLaCruz and Manilov; Fate? Destiny? or Merely Pure Hell? Read and find out...

**RATED 'M' FOR MATURITY AS THIS FIC CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE, SCENES OF SEX AND/OR VIOLENCE...READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED**

* * *

_What can a rabbit hope for in a Boa Constrictors throat?_

_I cannot tell sins from virtues, even to save my life_

_I must sing the song of love, from my heart to my throat in vomit_

_My lifemate I have wounded in my own selfish and stupidity_

_- Savannah Dubrinsky_

* * *

"Zacarias I am concerned, it has been seven rises and your lifemate has shown no visible improvements to her condition. I have exhausted everything I know on her, and nothing is working" Gregori said as he withdrew from Adriana's body, and staggered a step before Mikhail thrust his wrist unto his mouth. Zacarias inhaled deeply, cutting both ancients a glare that they dare give up on his lifemate now. "She has scarred greatly, it is a shame that she will exist forever with such horrific reminders of what happened to her" Mikhail added as he gazed upon the youngest Manilov still lying in the earth. "I will not be scarred much longer, so you needn't concern yourself over such trivial matters" came the curt response as Adriana opened her eyes to the males hovering above her.

"Adriana, how do you feel?" The healer asked as he approached her prone body in the earth. "Like I had my heart ripped out of my chest and my soul fed upon by hundreds of voracious Vampires in the shadow realm; other than that perfectly peachy" she bit out at the healer. Zacarias and Mikhail exchanged smirks "Good to know your wit survived" Gregori added a moment later after he too smirked at her remark. Adriana squirmed under their gazes, pulling on some of her leaden gifts to clothe herself around three males, to which she was bound to only one. Sensing her discomfort Zacarias waved his hand over her body, covering the flesh with a sheet of silk from prying eyes.

"We are mated males, we would not look at you in that manner Adriana. I am a healer and Mikhail is bound to ensure the safety of every hunter or huntress that fight the Vampire" Adriana shook her head lightly as a spasm ran across her flesh "It matters little you will see everything in a few short minutes anyway, I haven't much time" Zacarias immediately began scanning her body with his eyes looking for any signs of further deterioration or disease that threatened her life. "Zacarias before I am unable to say these words, I love you and I'm sorry you couldn't complete the ritual that demands you. It will be several years before you can" another spasm raced across her skin, lifting it in a tidal wave that had all three males perplexed. Shea took that moment to make her arrival into the cave that belonged to Zacarias. "sorry I'm late I -" she began but was immediately cut off from her words as she watched the skin rise on Adriana as though something ran beneath it, desperate to get out.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not. It barely hurts. It will hurt for a moment then it all go away. I have lived through this four times already, a fifth will be a piece of what humans call, cake" she smiled ruefully "Adriana what is happening to you?" Zacarias questioned as he saw the power being pulled into the centre of her body, centred in her chest where her heart resided once more. "You must keep Xavier from me, I will be easily influenced, I will know you but I will not remember everything straight away. I will always be connected with you, you are my lifemate, and nothing can remove that" Zacarias placed his hand upon her cheek, his black gaze flecked with the gold of her blood staring deep into her golden eyes. "I can see what's happening to your body, your power is regenerating below the surface as though you were a mere child" she smiled "You all had me committed to slumber that it did not take so swiftly as it usually does when I dwelled in Xavier's prison" Shea approached the three gathered males and stared at the lone female lying in the ground "What is it that is happening to you? it occurs to no Carpathian that we've come across"

"I don't have much time, but likely enough to tell you some of it" Adriana started "Xavier once created his immortality by mistake as you know he took one of the women from the Carpathian people thousands of years ago - Rhiannon, to find a way to keep his longevity and turn it into immortality," she awaited the affirmation from those gathered before she continued "He mixed the blood within his children - Mage and Dragonseeker - The power of Dragonseekers from Rhiannon flowed as she bore him triplets - Soren-Tatijana-and Bronnie, Xavier kept his daughters as a food source, whereas his Son managed an escape. Soren then found a human woman and had Razvan and Natalya" she paused as her skin rose once more, this time followed by a light convulsion that left her slightly breathless. "Razvan managed to further the gene pool; Colby's mother was Jaguar, Lara's mother Mage, Skyler's mother human. He had not mixed two of the races yet, Lycan and Vampire. Fortunately he had an abundance of Vampire males and one agreed to be a part of his experiments for the chance to be ultimately powerful, Xavier took one of his Dragon daughters and left her with the Vampire - you know what that union created; me. Can you see a trend here? Xavier wanted ultimate power and Immortality that he would do anything to achieve it" The three Males and Shea each exchanged a look as though they were trying to process everything as well as thinking ahead

"We see the trends but no species is immortal" Mikhail argued "We have an extended lifespan and are almost immortal, but even we can die" Adriana nodded "Each species are governed by death at some point, however not separately they aren't, he found that as his blood mixed through his children and grandchildren even his great grandchildren, their lives extended further and further. It was sheer accident that the union of a Vampire Manilov and Mage-Dragonseeker resulted in such strange anomalies"

"He took me, a newborn from my mother and kept us apart, telling me she were dead when I was old enough to ask. When I was but a child he placed the undiluted blood of the Dragonseeker within me - Rhiannons. The results with the Vampire blood that ran through my veins from my father resulted in a surge of power" she lifted her arms showing the red coloured Dragons flame tattoos. "Rhiannon was the twin of dragons flame. It tried to overpower and kill me, but I fought with all my heart and soul, and was given the heritage of the Dragonseekers despite what else lived within my blood"

"When I was a fledgling, Xaviers undiluted Mage blood was placed within me, the evil within tried to overtake my soul, but I refused to give in, he fed me the Blood of Natalya and Razvan to see if that would harbour any differences - none, it only made me stronger as it fed the Carpathian Vampire blood with power. But it left a mark upon my flesh - a brand upon my neck" all assembled noticed the lilac pattern of the Mage on the side of her neck, adjacent to the Vampires bite wound, it glittered with untold evil, yet held the refinement of a soul forever battling the evil and making it beautiful.

"At a century he found a wounded Lycan, close to death. He brought into my cell and thrust its bloody body on me. Ravenous I took the blood of the Lycan, killing it with my hunger. The Vampire and Lycan blood waged a war so vicious it put me into a comatose slumber for years, until they both conceded and submitted into one being, a racing band of wolves with the Blood red eyes of the Vampire adorn my midriff as a result" Zacarias nodded, he had seen that the first time he laid eyes on her in Xavier's prison.

"The Blood of the Jaguar was another easy find for Xavier - he deluded one into giving itself freely unto me, again I took the blood offered and killed the Jaguar male. Another battle ensued within my heart for my soul. The Jaguar and the Vampire battled within for what felt like eternity until the Vampire and Jaguar submitted on equal grounds and fused with my body" she pulled the silk sheet up her body and lifted up a leg, where on the inner thigh she held the golden paw prints and markings of the Jaguar people "Both legs hold the same prints, once scars now tattoos"

"So as you can see, no scar remains it becomes a brand on my flesh, this one will be no different. I am Vampire borne, it will scar but because my heart was ripped from my chest and my immortal soul was sent to the realm of Shadows and fed upon by hundreds of Shades. My body will revert back to a mere childs like it does every time something substantial occurs to me. Xavier accidentally created the one being he wants more than anything. I am reborn of ashes the Dragonseeker of Fire, that Rhiannon gave to me as her gift, I cannot die. I revert to a child when my heart, soul and body are gravely injured. I can walk into the sunlight without harm, the sun purges the darkness from me. I hold the Strengths of all the combined species within me, and discard the weaknesses. I am the vessel Xavier wants to be completely immortal; and he would be if he had me".

Adriana's skin rose like the great wave along with her power. The tattoos on her flesh began to emit heat and light from each, drowning her small body. Her eyes never left Zacarias "I have one simple request take me to my mother, I wish to know my mother for the very first time in my existence" Zacarias smiled at her request and promised that she would know her mother as child should. with his promise Adriana allowed the power to take her over in a single brand of pain, as the latest scars fused with her body to become tattoos upon her flesh.

The scars turned into tattoos of the vampire, small hoards of black bats with Blood red eyes from her neck, down her back following the path of blood, Another more intricate tattoo of the same nature was over her heart, small and detailed, bats in flight weaving in an aerial ballet over the skin that her father had pierced, but in the centre was a Dragon, a single golden russet coloured Dragon that was standing tall and proud in a ring of flames, mouth open and keeping her heart forever protected. The newer tattoo shone bright and emitted a fiery heat until it disappeared. An infant, Adriana now lays upon the Earth - unmarked, her huge golden eyes looking at Zacarias, her small hands reaching up to him.

Gregori, Mikhail and Shea were dumbfounded, it appeared that the youngest Manilov was the final piece of a never ending puzzle. All Carpathians knew that centuries ago the Mage, Xavier was bitter over the long lives and practical immortality that other races harboured, especially the Carpathians. That he began to fight against the species slowly annihilating it through spells and charms, blood and disease. But all this time he held the key to his immortality, one single child of his own daughter; his grandchild with the mixed blood of all the species combined was the ultimate being in which he would harness extraordinary gifts and be immortal. "Zacarias she should be kept under close watch, if Xavier knows of her importance then she will likely be killed" Zacarias picked up his lifemate "she reverted to an infant to save the trauma of the events touching her" Shea spoke softly as she placed a gentle finger on her soft cheek. All three males looked for the various tattoos that covered the body of Adult Adriana and found they had all disappeared "my assumptions is that is what she does each time to save her soul" Mikhail added as he too placed a finger into Adriana's hand a smile forming on his face as she squeezed it tightly.

Adriana looked into the eyes of her lifemate, and placed a small hand upon his face. She used her gift of telepathy, advanced for an infant but borne of a determined child, the she formed a word and the image of the one she wanted _mama _Zacarias took a sharp inhalation of breath as she placed the image and word into his mind of Tatijana. "very well Palafertiil let us find your mother" Zacarias held the infant tenderly in his arms a mix of the hold a lover would give as well as a father. Gregori approached the infant, and watched as she looked into his eyes. Her hand returned to her lifemate, in which Zacarias saw her concerns as the silvered eyes were steely and menacing, a promise of pain - Xaviers eyes. "No Adriana, Gregori will not harm you, he is not the Silvered Mage" Adriana allowed her small hand to drop to her side and allowed the healer to check her. As he pulled out of her body and into his own once more he looked to those gathered "she's the healthiest infant I have seen - there is no trace of the mixed blood of the species, I believe that will come as she ages, along with her tattoos" Zacarias, Mikhail, Shea and Gregori left the cave to go to Tatijana amidst the remaining Carpathians.

Mikhail entered first, commanding silence as he greeted his lifemate Raven, Savannah his daughter moved straight to Gregori and held him close to her. Shea remained by Zacarias' side as he approached Tatijana. He held Adriana for another moment, smiled tenderly then handed her the baby "why are you giving me this infant?" she asked as she held her awkwardly trying to adjust to a comfortable position as she'd never held an infant, not even her own daughter. Zacarias smiled at Tatijana and announced "a chance to do what you never did, raise your daughter - my lifemate"

All gathered look questioningly at the infant, as well as Zacarias and Gregori "I don't understand, my daughter, is well over a few thousand years old, this is a mere month old babe" Shea placed her hand under the child and helped adjust her into a more comfortable position for both mother and child "Adriana reverts to her infantile state when her body and soul have taken quite the beating. This is Adriana" the child looked up, her golden eyes glinting in the candle light. She placed her small hand on her mother and pushed her thought into her mothers mind. Tatijana felt and saw everything, the conversion from adult to infant, the sounds the smells the pain of her bones being pulled inward. But most of all she felt the unconditional and unyielding love for a mother and her lifemate that went beyond any form of life. "Adriana!" she smiled puling her child into a firm embrace, as the infant laughed.

* * *

Tatijana and Zacarias came to an arrangement some days ago, after Adriana was presented to her mother, and the entire race of Carpathians were sworn to protect and care for the child, that they would both cohabit a home in the forest. They both slept in the same chamber; which for an unmated pair was unheard of. But Zacarias would never be further than a rooms distance from his lifemate, and she slept beneath the ground with her mother on most mornings, and occasionally managed to awaken and move to Zacarias' arms in the middle of the day.

It was however on the seventh rising of sun that Adriana refused to go to earth her screams echoing in the ears of her mother and Zacarias as they attempted to put her to earth. Her small fingers clutched the fall of her mothers hair, desperately trying to stay above ground. "What is wrong Adriana? Why do you not want to sleep?" the young child stilled, her golden eyes staring deep into her mothers as she cried. Heat radiated from her small body. Zacarias hissed as he felt the scorching heat of fire racing along his limbs from elbow to fingertip, each burning with such a ferocity that he believed his flesh were about to fall off the bone, and that would be brittle and blackened once exposed, blood red tears raced down her face as the heat flared even hotter, blood running down her arms as she cried out in sheer agony. Zacarias doubled over as she was assaulted with pain from an unseen assailant that Tatijana panicked _Healer! Hear my plea come to our home, something is gravely wrong with Adriana and Zacarias! Hurry! _she cried as she held her daughter and watched as both she and Zacarias screamed and pitched.

Minutes later four streams of mist billowed through the door and took form, Gregori at the forefront, Shea his secondary healer and sister-in-law as well as both Mikhail and Jacques. Shea and Jacques turned to Zacarias and attempted to make him comfortable. Jacques tried to enter his mind but saw nothing more than a wall of scorching fire in his mind. As Shea shed her body and became healing light and entered his spirit, she immediately flew out of him, clutching her arms screaming "The flames! The flames!" she repeated, Jacques held her to him, calming her mind and heart, reassuring her that she was not on fire. "What is going on?" Tatijana shrieked. Gregori lifted one of Adriana's arms that felt as though fire were right beneath the flesh, he pushed his coldest thoughts into her mind, but even those were melted away. Moments later Adriana flung herself from her mothers arms, a mere infant, she shrieked and heaved, convulsed and collapsed onto the earth floor. The light fully engulfed her, a flame so bright and red that it almost touched the roof of the chamber. Tatijana screamed, flinging herself unto her daughter and gathered her into her arms.

Adriana flopped after the light died into nothingness, the shadows it created snuffing everything after the intensity. But instead of a small infant in Tatijana's arms, Adriana was now an eight year old child with the brand of the Dragonseekers on her arms glowing intensely, the fires of persecution. Gregori instantly shed his body and entered hers, checking every cell, every blood vessel, every artery. The blood of the Dragonseekers had suddenly been there as though it always had. It was then he understood, he pulled from her body and looked towards Zacarias and Shea who spoke of burning. "She said she was a mere infant when the blood of Rhiannon was placed inside her - that a war of the bloods commenced and left a brand on her body" he held one of her tattooed arms

"she fought it for eight years, the pain and the agony of her flesh and blood being charred, boiled and aflame - it was unbearable!" Zacarias huffed as he slowly became himself once more "it is done, the tattoos; once scars will cease to glow, they will fade and she will sleep for a lunar cycle, not even wake for nourishment. It was how Xavier rewarded her. Tatijana I fear it will be like this every time" each Carpathian present looked at the now slumbering child in her mothers arms "how many more times must she endure? What else remains?"

"anytime around her fledgling years, sixteen to twenty she had the blood of Xavier - pure and undiluted - it left a brand upon her neck, around a century a Lycan which will be horrendous as there were a band of running wolves across her stomach, each with the rubied eyes of the Vampire. Then the Jaguar, she bore tattoos up the inner thighs of her last altercation with that species . Then the most recent - Vampire attacks and having her heart ripped from her chest as well as her soul being fed upon by Vampire Shades; she relives the entire ordeal, each time and this is the first any one else has been around whilst she fought against the pain inside"

Tatijana and the others looked at both Zacarias and Adriana, they were doomed to thousands of years of sheer torture in fewer than a couple of years as Adriana suddenly ages with each. The impending pain of such atrocities that the Master Mage thrust upon her; his own grandchild were overwhelming that each of them felt violently sick as they looked upon her innocent now slumbering face.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16/?**

Two lines were the ones to decide how to overthrow the Dubrinsky family when they were merely fledglings around a fire. One of the bloodlines adopted the plan and turned to Vampire, denouncing all the power the would have had in the Carpathian World, The Manilovs. The others remained fiercly loyal to the Prince and told him of their mutinous thoughts, The DeLaCruz's have much to atone for. Now thousands of years later one of each of the bloodlines are lifemates, borne of lies and treachery, mutinous thoughts and blazing betrayal can a Manilov and DeLaCruz ever repent for their sins?

**Rated 'M' for scenes of Sex and Violence, Readers Discretion is advised**...All Characters (except Adriana) are owned by Christine Feehan, I do not own any copyrights for the names nor the Characters. All efforts have been made to ensure they are as true to the Author as possible.

* * *

_I'm not for or against. I'm not good or evil._

_You've been damned lucky with me, I'm unbiased._

_You are my home, my trap._

_I shall crawl under your wing, your cursed wing_

_And live for an eternity I never had a choice to join._

_I am my fathers daughter, a union challenged and lost,_

_Half-blood child, brought fully into your world by your sheer force._

_- Shea O'Halloran_

* * *

The sounds of teenage giggling alerted Shea as to the whereabouts of her daughter, Kayla Dubrinsky had been missing all rising, foregoing her feeding and spending much time preening about in her room, then suddenly rushing out into the night. Jacques had stated that it was something she'd gotten from her mother, but was generally concerned also. Shea called Jacques as she rounded the corner of the large Spruce and happened upon her daughter splashing about in the lake with another female. "Kayla Ellen Dubrinsky!" she began. It was the queue for both girls as they suddenly snapped their eyes to the fuming mother and began to walk back through the water to her, that is until Jacques appeared.

Kayla continued on, her head hung low, whereas her companion stood still, not moving an inch towards the shore of the small lake. She dipped her body lower out of view, and allowed the moon infused darkness to wash over her. "Kayla you know better than to steel off into the night without telling us where you went, its not safe out here" Shea reprimanded her sixteen year old daughter. "I'm sorry mother, I just wanted to have a little fun with Adriana" Shea turned her huge glittering green eyes onto the girl in the lake, whom had yet to return to the shore.

"Adriana! Get out of that water. Your mother will be worried sick, not to mention Zacarias, he's been so patient, you are almost of age!" she clipped, Adriana turned her sullen eyes into the water, she had spent seven years 'growing up' since she last fought off the blood war within and earned the first of her six intricate tattoos, memories assaulted her on a nightly basis. Her mother Tatijana had convened with Gregori and asked why her daughter could dream when her heart stopped beating, when everything, including brain functions should be resting. Gregori had no answer but Adriana merely stated that it was one of the 'differences' she harboured. It made her very unique among the other Carpathian children and most didn't wish to associate with her for this fact. As well as that she was an adult female, a Manilov trapped in the body of a child. Only Kayla seemed non-plussed over it and they had become fast and fond friends.

But Kayla's father scared her. Kayla turned her large green-black eyes to her mother and spoke softly "She will not mother, Adriana is somewhat afraid of father" Shea turned to her child and hissed "That is ridiculous!" Adriana remained in the pool of cool water, watching from afar as her friend whispered to her mother. She felt something shift within her, an odd sensation of feeling helpless and afraid. Her eyelids drooped to halfway, her cheeks flushed, and she suddenly felt restricted in her chest as though she were being constricted. She lifted a hand from the inky depths of the water and touched the left side of her neck; where the chill began to burn. "Oh no!" she slipped out in a harsh whisper.

The blood within her ran as cold as ice as she was pulled into a repeat of a nightmare that she had been having over the last few risings. She knew it was not real, that the male standing opposite her was Jacques, Kayla's father but her mind recoiled and made him the silver-eyed Monster; her grandfather. Her lips trembled as she felt the icy stab of fear flow through her body and radiate throughout the entire lake. It was like before; many hundreds of years ago, and would be forever etched into her mind, the day he poured his Mage blood into her, the day he branded her flesh with his mark of ownership. She slipped into the dream, into the nightmare that plagued her heart seeing everything easily and clearly.

Xavier had thrown her in a deep pool of glacial water, to which he made a magic walkway that ran over her helpless form. Adriana bobbed and trod water for hours, well out of the night and into the daylight hours that she should have been resting. But the Mage had other plans, building her resistance by tempting her death. If he succeeded she lived for another experiment - if she died, he would find another to prey upon. Adriana had already passed the first test of endurance with the blood of his stolen mate Rhiannon, a large vile of her lifeblood had been taken from her and stored for any such occasion, and it was within his unfortunate Vampire sired grandchild that he experimented upon. Adriana awoke that rising to the taste of blood in her mouth, the blood of her grandfather Xavier. He had torn a wound into his own wrist and poured the blood from his veins into her open mouth.

After little had happened after an hour, he proceeded to pour copious amounts of his other Grandchildren's blood - Razvan and Natalya, from which he'd stolen into her mouth against her will. But a fledglings will is naught when up against a Master Mage whom your blood and body belong to. Xavier was angry after nothing still occurred, he stood within inches of her, staring deep into her golden eyes, daring power to flare within her, but there was nothing. Adriana felt ill at the slightly chilled blood, but said nothing, lest she wish to feel the wrath of her grandfather. However it was not meant to be, Xavier was furious, he grabbed her by her long hair and dragged her kicking and screaming to one of the huge glacial pools that was deep into the ravine, buried within the earth. "If you wish to live beyond the now you had better survive this" lifting her head by her long hair he towered her over the edge, then released her into the icy waters below. Adriana screamed as she fell helplessly into the water. She knew not how to use any of her powers, but was like a mere babe being thrown from the womb into oblivion.

* * *

Adriana screamed as though her life were depending upon it, tearing Shea from her daughters reprimands as well as Kayla and Jacques attention. Jacques stepped towards the water then stood without moving. The water was frozen in a thick sheet of ice, he cut his eyes towards the form in the water "Adriana get out! Shift to mist, fog, anything and get out of the water, now!" his words however were wasted, for she heard nothing, trapped within her mind, her memory of long ago, her lips moving, a scream lodged in her throat. _Gregori it is happening again! Adriana is lost to memories, she swims in the lake, there is fear of drowning, neither myself nor Jacques can get through to her, what do we do? _Shea called out helplessly to the healer. _I am already aware, Nicolas called me when Zacarias and he were conversing when he suddenly slipped into some form of alternate reality. Remain where you are, I am coming to you._ the connection was swiftly ended and Shea could only watch helplessly as Adriana was alone with her fear.

Lara, Savannah and Gregori appeared within moments. Kayla and Shea were standing on the embankment looking out at the frozen form of Adriana, Jacques stood over her wanting to grab her but she was frozen waist deep in the water. Gregori walked over the ice with his lifemate and Lara, Lara touched her cousins face as she trembled in fear "I lived so long under Xavier, I knew he did horrible things to you, but I had no idea how cruel they were. You have suffered far more than I" she spoke gently, softly to her cousin even as her own fingertips played against the scars on her own wrists from Xavier's teeth so long ago. Adriana seemed to hear her voice and recognise it "Lara" she broke out in a broken whisper, she blinked slowly as she shivered, the lacy design of the second brand; this one upon her neck from the blood of the Mage, wove lilac with a slivery tint - the colour of the icy waters in which she was trapped in.

"she recognises your voice, Lara do you recall this day?" Gregori questioned as Adriana slipped back into her nightmare "No, I was still not yet borne, but this day was burned into the minds of the Dragon Aunts, something they felt, and answered to. They tried to keep me from suffering the same fate" Gregori lulled the thought in his mind then reached out to both Bronnie and Tatijana. _Branislava, your niece is caught in a memory that you should recall, come to the lake over the western ridge and bring your sister, fly on swift wings. She is shadow lost. _he turned his gaze towards his lifemate as she seemed to be enthralled by her silent hell; locked within her own mind.

"I know it sounds brutal and callous, but perchance pulling her into reality slowly would ease her suffering. I can turn her nightmare into reality Gregori, however you know who you would become. There is no other with his eyes than you" Savannah ended on a whisper of regret as she noticed the fury in her lifemates silver eyes; the only thing that connected the most skilled healer, harbinger of Justice and her lifemate to the cruellest and most vile Mage in all of creation. Xavier. Tatijana and Bronnie both arrived on the wings of the fabled Dragons, the beasts of purity and power. They reformed to their own bodies, soft hands holding out and touching Adriana. Lucian and Gabriel; Gregori's elder twin brothers arrived moments later with Zacarias draped across broad shoulders "He has been whispering her name like a mantra, we believed it necessary to bring him to her". The two sets of twins felt the brush of Mage power vibrate in the air, as the electricity arched from Adriana to Zacarias, attack and recoil, then become softer and more gentle as it caressed and held. "Her spirit reaches for him, she has some semblance of self even though she is lost within" Gabriel stated as he watched the pull of lifemates between the remaining De La Cruz and Manilov child. Lucian placed Zacarias on the Ice, immediately Adriana's body came to its own, lifting out of the water and lying beside him, her fingers interlacing with his. Without conscious thought.

Zacarias held onto Adriana tightly as wave after wave of pain from the Mage assaulted her body. The ice was burning cold against her flesh, her lips were a soft shade of blue and her skin glittered with her veins as they shone beneath the transparency. _Palafertiil how old were you when he did this to you? You are so frail, your life-force is barely able to remain. _her Amber eyes stared up at him, and at once Zacarias knew that she was still a young child, no more than sixteen years - a fledgling - she wanted death, and yet she held on. _I can no longer watch you endure this, allow me to end this cycle, allow me to give you peace. We shall walk into the realm of the afterlife together and begin anew. _Adriana smiled lightly as she was pulled into his arms, she shook her head gently, making ripples in the water. _you are my strength, my heat and my warmth. I have everything to live for in you, hold me and I shall attempt to forward this pain, I ask of a great burden; help me to shoulder it_ Zacarias pulled her small emaciated body into the safe shelter of his own as he trod water alongside her, he felt the burning chill of ice at this throat - the intricate lattice of the Mage being branded into her flesh where Xavier had ripped her throat in vein efforts to a conversion of sorts. _I would do no other than help you. I would take it all if it were possible _

Time seemed to stop, then shimmer, blur and race into streams of colour. Zacarias knew that as his stomach pitched and rolled, as bile rose and stung at his mouth and belly that Adriana threw her dwindling power deep into a future moment, one clouded with less pain, but tremendous darkness and suffering. _are you certain you wish to remain, this is going to be brutal Zacarias, this was by far one of the worst pains I had suffered - before the last I received in my adult body. This one will require endurance - I cannot make this particular scar move any faster ahead of time, nor can I make it stop once it has begun. You will scream for what seems like eternity, and when your lungs have burned and blood tears have fallen your soul will plead to die._

* * *

"Mother look, her body, she's aging!" Kayla whispered in awe as the sixteen year old Manilov child shimmered into her more adult self. Leaner, almost too thin that her bones were visible through skin, her hips and arms barely holding any flesh on them, her hair was long, limp and lifeless - she was at least a century and she was brutalised. Lara touched her on the cheek and felt her spirit lift in acknowledgement, only softly, but enough to feel it. _Lycan_ was the only word that shimmered into her mind, and Lara stilled eyes wide with fear. "take them to the shore, now she's thrust their souls forward and faces the most brutal of all experiments Xavier could place her in. This one is not going to be pleasant, Kayla go home you will not want to bare witness to this. I remember this one distinctly"

Shea laced her hand into her daughters and tugged her away "come Kayla!" her daughter however turned her huge green eyes to her father spearing him with those shiny emeralds. "father! Adriana is my friend please allow me to stay" Jacques had his Male-face on, the one he used when hunting the Vampire as he allowed his glittering black eyes to fall upon his only daughter. "No Kayla, do as your mother bids, go home" Kayla's face turned crimson in anger, her hands shook with the force of it, but she turned and stomped off home with her mother in tow. "Daughters are headstrong these days" Jacques muttered, "I know both my daughters are rebels much like their mother!" Gregori replied under his breath "but you love all three of us for it" Savannah added with a kiss to his temple as she unlaced Adriana's hand from Zacarias's. Gabriel Lifted Zacarias as though he were nothing more than a mere child as Lucian gently scooped Adriana, being mindful of her thin and brittle bones. Tatijana held her daughters head so it wouldn't roll around on her neck, supporting her as best she could until Lucian had her back on the earth once more. Zacarias's body lurched skywards, bucking and twisting with unseen force, as his lifemate recoiled deeper into Lucian's embrace, whatever was happening within their minds was assaulting them with extreme force "Tatijana, Branislava, Lara what can you recall of this day?"

* * *

Zacarias held Adriana in his arms as he looked around. They were deep underground in the belly of the Glacial Ice-caves that were Xavier's domain, locked inside a small unlit cell, that smelt of blood, death and sorrow. Three walls were pure ice, thick and heavy making the small enclosure freezing, that he found no matter how much he regulated his body temperature he was cold. Adriana was shivering in his arms, obviously unable to generate any heat for herself, the fourth wall was only half covered in the thick oppressive ice, but also held a door with wrought iron bars covering the small hole. Zacarias moved away from his lifemate and placed a hand on the bars, only his hand went straight through them, he had no substance, a mere shadow, a ghost.

He felt pure unadulterated panic that Adriana had removed herself from him, cut herself off from him. Only she lay crumpled on the ice cold floor, shivering uncontrollably, a hand extended towards a small lateral gap in the ice wall facing her _what are you doing? _he questioned when he found his voice did not work, only his mental one further pushing fear into his mind. A small tender hand, covered in scars felt its way through and made a reach for Adriana's. It was the hand of a mere toddler, small fragile, tender and frightened. That is until he heard her voice, "It will be alright little one, he will not harm you this day, I will not allow it" the small hand withdrew slightly, somewhat afraid "Adriana I'm scared, I want my mummy and daddy" Adriana reached out and held the small hand in her own "I know Lara, I know"

Fear hit Zacarias in the gut, Lara Callaline, now De La Cruz; his younger brother Nicolas's lifemate was here. Was nothing more than a small toddler, being brutalised in the caves by Xavier, torn from her mother and father, Razvan. Lara and Adriana had shared tortures, yet the two of them seemed somewhat unknown to each other when they first encountered. Even Razvan seemed as though he did not recognise her, how did Xavier pull his lifemate from the minds of those she'd touched? The pull of Magic whispered in the air around both females, making Lara pull her hand back in sudden fear and a small cry of despair. There was an unusual scent in the thick atmosphere, blood laced with Wolf, thick and musky. Adriana pushed her thin face harder against the ice, burning and shredding the skin as she sought purchase to see into Lara's small cell as the door opened.

Zacarias heard Lara scream, her small lungs echoing out in the darkness. Adriana seemed to stagger in her breath as she saw something beyond in her cousins cell, though she knew not that Lara was by blood, related. "Xavier! No! she is a child, do not, I beg of you. Xavier!" she screamed out in a hoarse throat as she sought the attention of her grandfather "Xavier!" Zacarias held himself still and silent as the flow of magic tugged and pulled on his lifemates cell, as the door swung open and the Mage stood with a creature limp and lifeless behind him. He stepped inside, immediately Zacarias made a move, wrapping his hands around the Mage's throat, but found no actual purchase. He had no form, nothing in which to help his lifemate. "You dare to issue orders at me Adriana!" he spat her name with distain. "you are mine to command not the other way around. What I do with my children, whatever the generation is mine to decide"

The Mage stepped inside, and grabbed Adriana by her hair, Zacarias growled in anger at the rough handling of his lifemate, but he was powerless to do anything but watch. A satisfactory gleam entered the Dark Mages silver eyes, he curled a finger at the shadow being behind him, a huge wolf, dark and sinewy entered the cell. Immediately Zacarias could taste Adriana's fear, but most of all the need for the blood that coated its fur. A deep red flame entered her eyes, her fangs exploded in her mouth, long and pointed overlapping her lower lip as she inhaled deeply. Xavier looked at his granddaughter, then the Lycan. "Perchance another experiment is required, No Carpathian has mixed blood with the Lycan" his gravely voice piqued with intrigue he forced her ear to his mouth "You had better survive Adriana, I have need to see what happens, If you die Lara will take your place in all other experiments" Bile rose in Zacarias's mouth, the stark evil promise of pain to a mere babe weighed on his lifemates mind. He felt her thoughts, held them, caressed them, she was willing to give her life for Lara. She pulled her bony legs under herself and stood for a mere moment unaided, the strength it took for her, as clearly she had not stood on her own for sometime created a sheen of bloody perspiration upon her forehead. She nodded her ascent, and turned those hungry eyes to the Lycan. _Forgive me lifemate, wherever you roam, if you exist. For this female is reduced to being a creature of death, I can never see nor hold you, can never feel you in my mind. I will never know love, nor the feel of a child without pain and death paving the way. Never look for me, never find me. For I was born dead. _her words filled him with deep sorrow, she had given up, her soul had quit. She took a step towards the Lycan, the Lycan also smelling death on the one whom approached reared its head and launched itself.

Both Adriana and the Lycan fought, claws slashed her skin, ripping deep across her belly. Adriana hissed and sunk her long fangs into the neck of the Lycan, holding on and never letting go, swallowing its blood. The Lycan howled its own fangs penetrating her shoulder as it held onto life, its long feral claws digging deeper into her skin and ripping away chunks. Zacarias launched himself at the Wolf, knowing he likely could not touch nor harm it, there was no thought, he threw himself, all the power he possessed into his lifemate and attacked the wolf. Adriana felt power wash over and through her, her own spirit lifting its head and fighting for life, the Wolf staggered and wheezed, its blood filling her body, her mind and her soul. It dropped to one knee, struggling against her, but her teeth were fully embedded in the Wolf and she was starving, in a blood fuelled rage, that she demanded every last drop.

Her skin itched and burned, her lungs laboured for breath, but she refused to relinquish her kill. It was hers, all hers, every last drop of the life-giving fluid was hers. She felt the darkness inside her, the Vampire shadow that was her very soul lift its ugly head and demand more. She felt the Wolfs body crumple into itself and she followed. The heart gave a lurch, then ceased to beat. The Lycan was dead, its blood filling her mouth, coating her teeth. Zacarias was so merged with her, that he felt the power of the Wolf blood flowing over and through him, it was wild and powerful, too powerful for her weak body and soul, he roared at the wildness as it tried to consume her, pushing his own soul into protecting hers.

The feel of the Vampire soul deep within her roared for release, and she was too weak to hold it back as it began to fight for dominance. Adriana sunk to the ice floor as pain wracked her body, launching her frail bones into lock down as the two powers collided within. She forgot about Lara, forgot about Xavier, the word disappeared until only pain and war raged within, fighting for supremacy over her life.

Zacarias hissed at the Wolf spirit that was fighting for control over his lifemate's body, attempting to consume her soul. He did not know how he saw it, nor how he felt so overcome with rage and power that he was able to touch it. It dawned on him as they clashed and her body rose up in pain, that he was the spirit within her, the part of her that fought long and hard against the Lycan spirit. He knew that regardless of the war they would fight, the unending battle, he was causing this pain unto his lifemate. But she gave him that choice to shoulder her pain, and he'd accepted readily. He was her strength when she had little, he had to win, had to fight no matter the pain, no matter the agony. She'd given him her life, and he would take it unto his keeping and free her from her pain.

* * *

Lara stared at Adriana and Zacarias as they were locked into their minds and bodies. Adriana rose and fell as though she were reliving those moments of pain in the Ice caves, when she took the Wolf, the same wolf that was going to rip her to shreds as a mere child. Zacarias's face was snarling his fists clenching against himself as he thrashed about seemingly attacking something unseen. Both were fighting for their lives, for their souls. And both were totally vulnerable to the Dark Mage in this state. "we need to place them somewhere deep underground and filled with safeguards. Xavier could use them and influence them in this state. They are completely vulnerable" Lucian bent to take Adriana once more as Gabriel went to take Zacarias, both thrashed for a mere moment, their bodies tangled in Pain. Tatijana and Bronnie took the forms of the great Winged Dragons in their minds, The Red and Blue beasts of old lay upon the ground, their wedge shaped heads lying flat against the earth _get on, we will carry you to the cave of healing. It has the most beneficial earth mother can provide for her children._ Jacques and Gabriel climbed onto the Red Dragon that was Bronnie with Zacarias and Savannah. Gregori, Lucian and Lara climbed onto the Blue Dragon that was Tatijana with Adriana. Both dragons gave a cry of pain and despair as they carried their fallen children into the skies towards a sanctuary, heralding all within the area to lend their strengths of soul to the fallen.

Mikhail, Raven and the four De La Cruz Brothers along with their lifemates were all gathered in the chamber, the candles were lit, the soothing sweet grasses were whispering in the atmosphere. Chanting for the two locked within the pain had already begun, keeping them tethered to the earth, to their bodies and their people. Syndill, Natalya and Skyler were dancing the healing dance of the soil, as Razvan and Ivory wove enchantments into the safeguards. Gabriel entered first with Zacarias, Lucian close behind with Adriana. Both wore pained expressions, both wore a sheet of bloodied sweat on their brow "Whatever is happening is brutal on them" Jacques spoke as he wiped at the two once more as he had done all flight. Lara was instantly cradled into her lifemates arms as she fled to his side, the memories of such pain assaulting her mind.

"Look at her! She's nothing more than skin and bone!" Raven hissed as she knelt down to Adriana. "That is what Xavier specialises in, keeping the body and soul weak. Adriana suffered like no other once Xavier realised he could merge species within her body" Razvan spoke harshly as he too looked down upon her, remembering when he too was as emaciated as she. "She's in this because of me! She took the Lycan to save my life. She fights its soul spirit to keep me from Xavier" Lara cried into Nicolas's shoulder. "_Sivamet _I do not understand, you knew Adriana from before?" Lara nodded her head as all gathered listened to her memory, of a child in an ice cave - a prison - watching in fear as the beast that was promised to shred her small body was forced upon her cousin. The cousin who took the blood and made the Kill, whom gave her soul to death, but had to fight else Lara was promised to be the next 'toy' for Xavier.

Both Adriana and Zacarias gave a hoarse cry, both thrashed about their arms locking into battle against their bodies and souls. Nicolas dove for Zacarias as he thrashed about violently, Manolito, Riordan and Rafael each pushed all their strength onto him, holding him against the earth when his eyes opened suddenly. The obsidian eyes glittered with menace, as the amber flashes stared at his brothers, not seeing them.

Adriana let out a keening wail of despair as her body lurched. She opened her amber eyes wide, rolled and attempted to crawl away. Her body was aflame, her stomach roiling with bile that she had to push it all out. Her arms shook as she felt her bones crack and pop, as muscle stretched and contorted. MaryAnn instantly flew into action as Lucian turned to aid her "Move! Get out of the way. Give her space, the Wolf will tear you to shreds if she sees you in her sights!" Manolito instantly understood, he was half Carpathian-half Lycan as was MaryAnn. The mixing of the blood within them making them different from all others. And MaryAnn could feel the wolf within Zacarias's lifemate thrashing for release. Zacarias snarled in warning "Zacarias we intend no harm to befall either of you, MaryAnn will help Adriana. You are in no danger from us, call out to her, she needs you"

The golden flecks in Zacarias's eyes shone bright and a feral red of something unknown crept up from behind those eyes. "Riordan, Rafael, Nicolas release him and step away! Slowly" Manolito hissed the warning as he allowed his Wolf to come to the forefront and take over his body. Zacarias snarled and embraced the snarling beast within him, allowing his body to be engulfed by a Lycan as he felt his blood war and mix. Both brothers stared into each others eyes, both Golden with flecks of Black lightning _brother, are you of your own mind? Your lifemate is trapped and in serious pain, you have shared her blood and so share her spirit. You are as she is. Can you control the Wolf or must I make you? I have lived longer with mine than you. _Zacarias snarled in warning, scrunching his eyes tightly looking deep within himself for his own mind, for his own body and soul. He saw it, nestled in a small compartment in his mind, and took control of it once again, pulling his body back to his own. The bones pushed and pulled, his elongated muzzle receded, until he was panting looking up at his younger brother, with eyes filled with pain and confusion. Manolito allowed his own wolf to recede and remained kneeling on his brothers chest, keeping his brother in a submissive position, informing him without words that Manolito although younger was the alpha of the Ly-pathians. Zacarias allowed his breathing to calm, to filter rational thoughts back into his being and be the Carpathian once more. "You have it tough little brother, the Lycan is just as dominant as we" Manolito smiled a moment "In more ways than one big brother, to which you will find out in time"

Another piercing cry broke their banter, as Adriana was violently sick, her small arms clutching at her stomach, her head was bowed, her long blue-black hair was covering her torso in a veil of silk. "Adriana, _Palafertiil, _can you hear me?" her laboured breathing told him she was semi-conscious of her surroundings. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and was thrust against the earth by a snarling half-Lycan, her torso above was Wolf, whereas the remainder of her body below was Carpathian. She was struggling with the change, holding onto herself and yet losing herself at the same time. She still had her golden eyes, and the bands of gold in her hair shone brightly as the Lycan warred against her. Zacarias held perfectly still, submitting to her, his eyes never leaving hers. Her long muzzle lowered closer to his throat, his heart leapt as her tongue long and like velvet licked at his pulse. _Adriana, Cistri, I am your lifemate, your Koje, if you have had enough of this life then take mine and we shall walk the lands of mists and shadows together. _he felt her hesitate, then pull back until she leaned over him, her eyes filled with blood red tears, the tears of a Carpathian. _Zacarias! _she wept in his mind. The pain of fire raced along their stomachs, that they both had to hold their breaths against its onslaught. Adriana pulled herself from the mind of her Wolf and took control, falling onto Zacarias's chest as she did so.

Both lay there, without moving. Cradled in each others arms. "Is it over?" Tatijana asked in a deep tear filled voice. Manolito and MaryAnn approached their kin and looked over their bodies, a band of running Black wolves with the blood red eyes of the Vampire adorned Adriana's waist, from left to right. Zacarias held the mark of a golden Wolf, running beside the great black wolf both with the blood red eyes of the Vampire as well as three deep red marks that looked like claw gouges in the skin where his wolves ran. "It is over, they are both merely unconscious" Manolito stated as he stood. "We have two more Ly-pathians amongst our people"

* * *

Carpathian dictionary if you are unaware;

**_Koje _**- husband

**_Palafertiil_** - lifemate

**_Cistri_** - little one

**_Lycan_** - werewolf

_**Ly-pathian** - _I just made it up - - made up of half Carpathian half werewolf


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17/?

Paranormal Romance. Rated M for Maturity, scenes of Sex and Violence, Readers Discretion is advised.

I do NOT own Christine Feehan's Dark Series, her characters or any sites affiliated with the author.

* * *

_You'll have no time to flee for safety,_

_Unrivalled ancient Carpathian has you marked as his._

_There is no beauty more beautiful, No male so prime,_

_You'll believe yourself mad on morphine withdrawal_

_as he takes you into his arms and into the night._

_-Joie Trigavoise_

* * *

A heart beat, steady and sure, and another answered, following the pattern. Eyes lifted slowly and fluttered much like a butterfly, hands sought purchase on flesh that was bared and exposed. Lips feathered against a neck as long midnight tresses were pulled away from soft silken skin. "You have a beautiful neck" Zacarias whispered against her, his hot breath flowing over her and into her soul. "Zacarias?" he placed a long muscled finger against her lips "Adriana I have never felt such fear as I have when I was merged as one with you, I never want you to experience such ever again" Adriana tucked her head under his chin as she allowed her fingers to run circles over his broad chest and over his thick arms. "you know there is more to come, but the Lycan was the worst of it" she fell silent as she thought that over "actually the Lycan was not half as bad as the Vampire, that one will be the true attest of whether we can survive whatever Xavier throws our way" her fingers trailed down over his rock hard abs and lower until she brushed the newly added tattoo on his flesh.

She sat bolt upright staring at the twin wolves, one golden russet the other midnight black, both with the penetrating eyes of the Vampire. "Zacarias you have a" and her words died in her mouth as she looked at her own string of running wolves, where they always had been, only this time they were being led by a single Black wolf, huge and powerful with a golden russet wolf beside it, partners, mates. "Adriana your blood runs through my veins, your soul is my soul, we are _Palafertiil_, I am your guardian, your protector." he brushed his own fingers over her intricate tattoos "your soul allowed mine to protect yours against the Lycan, I saw everything the Mage did to you, and Lara" he shuddered at the memory. "Zacarias I have never wanted you to witness any of it, and there is still more to come" her eyes dropped in shame. Zacarias lifted her face with gentle fingertips, until her forehead was pressed against his. "there is no shame in sharing your past with your lifemate, I wish to protect you as best I can and I will, even if I must bare the marks as well as you, I will honour them as I hold you high in my heart"

Adriana smiled softly, placing her fingers against his flesh, it ran warmer now the heart and soul of the Lycan ran through him, as she ran through and beside him. "Never hold any of it from me, nothing, I wish to share in it all. It brings me closer to you" she nodded lightly against him, her eyes enfolding behind her thick lashes as tears attempted to fall from the sincerity of his words. He wanted to share her pains, her tortures, to keep her heart and soul forever safe. And it humbled her as nothing else could. "thank you _Palafertiil" _Zacarias caressed her skin gently, running his fingertips along her face in a blind mans caress, down her slender neck and draping over shoulders. Skin tingled and throbbed behind his touch, that left Adriana wanting more of his ministrations. His lips drifted to her ear, where with a sensitive whisper, filled with Dark promise and heat echoed throughout her mind and soul "I have waited for seven years for you to be mine, and now you are well over a century," his voice was pitched low and compelling as he whispered his deepest thoughts and intentions "I wish to take you to the heavens and show you the beauty of life, the wonders of being with others of your kind. There are no rules, no pain and no suffering. Only endless passion and love"

Zacarias shifted, pulling her smaller body into his arms and standing in a swift fluid motion "Zacarias where are you?" she began, until she noticed the small mineral pool that beckoned with soft furls of heat and the smell of delicate mineral. Zacarias deposited her into the warmth of the water, allowing it to cover her small body to her slender neck, then followed her inside into inviting depths. Adriana took the opportunity to look at her lifemate, really see the male she was tied to forever. He was a tall male, well proportioned, muscled with a wide shoulder and chest that was made for snuggling and protecting her. His hips were sleek, he had wonderful abs, solid and glistening, tapered waist that now sported a tattoo of his own, his ass and legs were tight and well shaped, as was the large muscle that stood to attention at her heated gaze. He raised an eyebrow "Is everything-" he glanced at his own body following her gaze that began a delicious sweep through them "-where it should be?" Adriana smiled with true affection and moved aside so he could perch upon the stone shelf under the heated water.

"You are perfection Zacarias, and all, dare I say. Mine" he smiled at her honest shyness, and enveloped her into his embrace. "allow me to pamper you as you should have been" he reached over and pulled a huge sponge from the carpet surrounding the mineral pool, as well as pushing his fingers into a crack in the saltstone around the pool, to which a delicate syrup coloured liquid pushed. He placed the moss sponge into the syrup and lifted to his nose taking a deep sniff of the sweet and salty liquid, before offering it to Adriana's body "salt soap is delicate and natural in this pool, there is always an abundance of it, it is sweet and aromatic in its healing properties-" he lifted one of Adriana's arms out of the mineral pool, his eyes never leaving hers as he placed himself into her servitude "-allow me to wash away your fears and pains, your nightmares and caress your scars" Adriana inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, relaxing completely unto him, giving him her mind, body, heart and soul.

He soaped her shoulders softly, gently easing away old nightmares that lingered. His lips touched faded scars that were soft as lace upon skin, barely seen by the eye but felt by the body and soul. Rubbing in soft circular motions as he hummed and threw soft keening into the atmosphere, that almost lulled his lifemate into a soft slumber. "you are so gentle with your hands, and your voice is soothing" Adriana whispered as she relaxed into him further. Zacarias rolled the sponge gently all over her upper body, down arms and gently laced through fingers, he watched as a smile alighted his lifemates face, all shadows being chased away. Dipping the moss sponge once again he rolled it up to her neck, and down her chest, leaving a trail of soft soapy bubbles in its wake, lower and lower. He rubbed the sponge down her body and around her breasts, running it delicately over sensitized nipples. Her breath left her in a rush, as eyes opened to watch him, taking his pleasure in bathing her body. "If I am doing anything that displeases or makes you uncomfortable, inform me and I will stop"

Adriana placed her smaller hand over his as the sponge swept across her flesh once more, "there is nothing you are doing that is wrong, I am enjoying the feel of it" Zacarias continued in his slow caress of her skin and breasts with the moss sponge, dipping lower down her ribs and stomach. He caught her eyes with his and smiled softly, before lifting her out and placing her on the upper ledge so her hips nestled deep in the water, but the rest of her was exposed. Zacarias discarded the sponge and ran his fingers in the salt soap lathering them up, before continuing. He traced her ribs, and kissed each lacy scar that shone under the candlelight, dipped lower until his fingertips were dancing and caressing the long line of running wolves on her stomach, his own began to dance and tingle in answer as he touched hers, running from muzzle to tail in an intimate caress of longing. His eyes locked with the small triangle of blue-black curls that were hidden just under the surface of the mineral pool, begging to be touched, to find the treasure buried deep behind. "you are a beautiful woman Adriana".

She slipped further into the waters, closer to her lifemate so they were chest to chest. Her breasts pushed against him, her nipples furrowed against his skin, arms creeping up his, fingering his firm muscles in his shoulders. "I am a female that had long denied her lifemate," she said pulling him against her roughly, taking his mouth with hers with a searing kiss of possession. Running a hand down his back to his hip, to rake her long nails and pull him ever closer to her heat. Zacarias needed no prompting he instantly took control of his demanding lifemate, spearing his tongue into the cavern of her mouth, running thick muscled hands over her soft lithe body. "I have missed you _cara _I have long been afraid that you would never want me" his voice was rough with want and desire that it made Adriana's skin rise with need. "how could you believe I could never want you, you are my strength, my soul, my heart and my _Palafertiil_ I would deny you nothing, for without you I do not exist" she answered whilst playfully nipping his shoulder, only to salve it with her tongue.

"Adriana do not! I am attempting to be gentle with you" his voice growled low and meaningful, as his hands were pulling rough against flesh. She bit him on the earlobe as she whispered in his ear, a sirens call "do not be gentle, for I will not be" that was all Zacarias needed, as his raw growl slipped from his lips, his hands grabbed at her derriere tightly lifting her, in one smooth motion he plunged himself deep within her tight folds throwing his head back as her heat enfolded him. "Adriana I fear I will shatter, you are too hot, too tight" Zacarias bit out in a harsh whisper as his thick engorged member was thrust deep within her. Adriana moved slowly, gently setting a slow deep rhythm. A soft dance within the water, one that built with more intensity with every shifting of her hips against his. A low moan slid from her lips as he lifted his head from her shoulder and took her rhythm, making it his own. Fingernails dug into flesh deeply as waves of heat flooded her body as Zacarias took the pace and made it hard and fast, his long fingers kneading her posterior in circular movements as he thrust her against him again and again.

Adriana moaned as Zacarias bent his head to her breast and took her nipple in his hot moist mouth. She felt his tongue twist and curl around her erect nub, then press firmly against it before he took her mound into his mouth for a laborious and sensuous suckle. Her head twisted back as she arched herself further to give him better access. Zacarias was in heaven, he'd never felt so much raw passion as he did for his lifemate, he had waited faithfully for two-thousand years, and then some even when he found her, it was the most difficult time for him as his inner demons crept upon his soul minute by minute that he had not fully completed the binding ritual with his lifemate. Now his soul was forever saved, entrenched in her light, and bathed in her power; keeping the demons away. But two-thousand years of loneliness and darkness, of no emotion, nor colour, he was fragmenting as he touched her sensitive skin.

Adriana noticed the passion flare in Zacarias's eyes, highlighting the golden flecks that were the evidence of her blood in his veins. He caught one hand at the back of her head, and pulled her forward for a kiss and the lines suddenly shifted. Where there had been infinite gentleness as they pondered over the wonders of lifemates, there was now fierce intense passion. Zacarias took the control from Adriana and twisted their bodies so they were laying amidst the moss. Tongues duelling for dominance over one another, hands frantically touching one another, seeking every hollow, every nuance of soft skin, every hidden secret, every shadowed inhibition and daring it into the foray. Adriana placed her hands on his chest, wide as she could to feel as much hard sculptured chest she could, she played in the soft black curls that nestled against his skin, ran her nails lightly over his small tight nipples, before caressing his newly formed tattoo, which heated under her fingertips.

The heat built within to a fiery inferno, muscles bunched and tightened, skin rose with heat and desire as waves fluttered in stomachs. Adriana tightened her thighs against Zacarias as the first convulsion slammed through her body as she cried out. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed through her as he continued what he was doing, building the pressure constantly. Those waves slammed into her repeatedly as he rode her hard and deep, again and again until she keened loudly as orgasms ripped through her small body. Zacarias could feel his own release running through him, the pounding in his ears and the tunnelling in his vision squeezed him as his sac tightened. Adriana threw herself back as her body clenched him tightly in spasms around him, tight then releasing, tight then releasing him, again and again. Unable to hold back any longer Zacarias allowed himself to let go of the built up orgasm riding him, His own body stiffened tightly as he drove deep into her fiery cavern one last time and poured his hot seed deep into her womb.

Sated he lay over her small body as tremors raced throughout his body and hers, locked together in a lovers embrace, body to body, and heart to heart. Adriana breathed in deeply taking his essence into her lungs and keeping it treasured, Zacarias ran gentle fingertips through her hair, trailing them over her face as he found his breath once again. He rolled over to the side, pulling her with him, until she lay draped over his body like a living blanket, moulded to his flesh. "_Palafertiil _you have given me back everything. My life, my love, my emotions. The ability to see in colour, the adoration I have for my younger brothers who have been so concerned over my well-being. You are truly my lifemate" Zacarias spoke softly as he caressed skin with his fingertips. "I am sorry that you will witness and feel things that have occurred over the last few centuries, that I cannot keep you from the pains of them. But I appreciate you sticking beside me through it all" she nuzzled his chest with her lips.

"If Xavier has been creating such a unity of the species, he would have known that Adriana Manilov would be able to harness the power of the Vampires. the Dark Mage has not made a move, not even the Manilov brothers in collecting her" Lucian stated as he sat around the hearth with his brothers, the prince, and their lifemates. "He's biding his time, awaiting until she harnesses all the power and becomes of age once again. When she is in full possession of all the powers of the races within" Gabriel added as he answered his twin. "this cannot bode well for any of us, Adriana Manilov is unique, she is first and foremost Dragonseeker and a Carpathian woman, she must be protected" Gregori mused "However;" all eyes turned to the Prince "If she becomes unstable, only her lifemate can erase the darkness within her, only he can defeat her, yet her blood runs in his veins. They both walk the shadowed path of the Vampire" Raven rubbed deep massaging circles into her lifemates shoulders as the gravity of their conversation weighed upon them all. "Gregori, Lucian, Gabriel and Darius all four of you are to take their blood. If such an occurrence were to arise and one is lost, you are to use the power of the Dratazzanoff line to terminate the pair. I cannot sacrifice the people for the sake of the shadows that hold them" Mikhail made the decree although it weighed heavily on his heart.

"Mikhail are you certain? We would lose the entire De La Cruz family if we did as such. Perhaps the burden should be left to them. Allow the Brothers to take the life of their eldest and his lifemate if they truly turn and walk beside the Mage and the Manilovs" Lucian spoke in hushed tones. The women in the circle averting their eyes from the grave faces of their mates. Knowing that despite their love and compassion, Zacarias and Adriana were simply too dangerous. "I agree, although we are ancients, if the De La Cruz brothers cannot do as commanded by yourself, Mikhail, we can destroy the pair. I only hope that it will never happen, females are rare and even rarer are those whom are Dragonseeker" Gabriel added. Mikhail stood as he thought it over "very well, the De La Cruz brothers; Nicolas, Riordan, Rafael and Manolito are to be given the responsibility, however if they fail the Dratazzanoffs will take control. I just pray that neither will fall to the Dark Mage"

Fully sated after several laborious and sensual love making sessions, both Zacarias and Adriana left the sanctuary of their cave dwelling to seek out the night. Zacarias was the first to enter the home of the Prince, his lifemate tucked under his shoulder in an endearing position. Yet he ceased and held his breath as the sight of his four younger brothers and the four Dratazzanoff brothers standing opposite each other, with Mikhail the Prince of the people standing dead centre a frown marred upon his forehead. "what's going on?" he asked as he gently pushed his lifemate behind him in a protective manner. Each of the nine males were silent, as were their lifemates whom stood in the Kitchen of the home, silent and still. Adriana peered around Zacarias' shoulder and looked at the faces of the women, sullen, defeated and wholly sad. Her heart cried out to them, no woman should be made to feel so oppressed and neglected by her lifemate. Was that her future with Zacarias?

A single word and all its potency shimmered in the air, along the path of one of his younger brothers _Dangerous_. Zacarias looked deep into the shadows that flowed around his brothers and could feel their energies, each one of them was angry and hurt, stealing glances at himself and his lifemate. "I can sense your discomfort around my lifemate and I, we will take our leave" Zacarias held Adriana by her wrist and turned to leave when his youngest brother Manolito called out to him. "Zacarias, please don't leave. There is something that must be discussed" sensing the gravity of the aura that flowed around his youngest, a Ly-pathian, something never before considered, the mixing of two dominant species, Zacarias faced the males. He pulled Adriana beside him, then turned her towards the other females in the home, giving her a gentle push in their direction.

However as Adriana made a step towards them, Gabriel took one against her. Almost as though he were rounding her up for a kill. Zacarias growled in his anger "you deny my lifemate to be amongst the women of our people?" Adriana hung her head with a long sigh of regret. Yet again she was never to be amongst those who were supposedly her brethren, or sister-kin. "there is a matter of high importance that must be addressed before Adriana is permitted amongst our women, just as there is with you amongst our hunters" Mikhail spoke gravely, earning him a glare of suspicion from the eldest De La Cruz, and several growls of disapproval from each of his brothers. "This is absurd Mikhail! There is no need to subjugate them to this brutal way of remaining a part of the people, they would never disobey your directives. Neither would intentionally harm the people in the name of the Dark Mage and his Vampire followers" Nicolas hissed angrily. Zacarias inclined his head as he felt each of the auras of those amongst the room. His brothers were defending his honour, the Dratazzanoffs were against such a display of power, but they were with the Prince on a matter they were equally concerned with. The prince himself did not wish to be the ruler that did not trust his own brethren, yet he had the entire species to contemplate and that was cause enough. Zacarias pinched his brow as a tension headache arose from being able to tune into the auras and feelings of the nine males in their oppressive natures. This was a simple additional trait gained by being lifemate to Adriana. He cut his obsidian-gold flecked eyes to his lifemate whom was standing by his side, eyes closed to all, head hung low in defeat. He knew that she was well aware of what each of them were thinking.

"If you feel it is in the best interests of the people, then I agree to your thoughts Mikhail" Adriana spoke softly, earning her the full gazes of each of the Carpathians in the room. "How is it that you can hear my thoughts when we have never exchanged blood, you have done so to Gregori before also" Mikhail asked, with a cautious glance in her direction. Zacarias placed her further behind him, hiding her from the scrutiny of their eyes. "I have no need to be connected by blood, I hear thoughts, I feel auras and I can taste the power you each hold. I can understand more in a gesture than words could ever relay" she said softly "And I agree with you, I am a danger to your people. And now that Zacarias has claimed me as a lifemate he too is a danger to you as my blood runs in his veins" Zacarias growled lowly, dropping slowly into a defensive stance, one to protect his lifemate yet give him ample room to attack and defend himself. "Zacarias, your brothers are to reinforce the bond they hold with you by blood, and they are to take from Adriana-" Mikhail began "No!" Zacarias growled out loudly silencing the room, and cutting the Prince off.

"Zacarias are you denying your Prince?" Gregori asked, stepping closer toward the eldest De La Cruz his silver eyes flashing with anger. Nicolas met his aggression with a snarl in his direction. Darius, Gabriel and Lucian approached their brother, and were also met with resistance from Rafael, Manolito and Riordan. "Stop this!" Raven shouted from the kitchens as the growls and snarls from each of the males was enough for her to bare "Can't you see you will not only lose this couple, but to continue on this path, there is only destruction and fighting amongst the people" Savannah stood beside her mother and voiced her opinion "You are forcing the hand of eight hunters, four are brothers to Zacarias, and four are the deadliest of ancients among our people. Do you truly believe that this is where it will end?" Juliette and MaryAnn stood before the women allowing the change to take hold of them. A sleek Jaguar padded on all fours where Juliette once stood, and a black haired Lycan stood on two thickly muscled limbs where MaryAnn once was. "and what about us and our lifemates? Need you take our blood as well, we are dangerous, we pollute the species, we mixed the species are we not a danger?" MaryAnn growled at the males.

"And what about us?" Raven shouted, "I was human! I have polluted the gene pool, I am the lifemate of the Prince!" Lara shook her head at the Dratazzanoffs as she allowed the sparks of mage magic to flow over her skin "And I am the great grand-daughter of the Dark Mage, what of me? Adriana is my cousin, if she is dangerous then so am I!" Savannah placed a hand upon her mothers shoulder as a mark of solidarity "Look at us! We are your lifemates, and we come from all different walks of life, Human, Mage, Lycan, Jaguar, Carpathian. If you turn against Zacarias and Adriana then you lose us! The species will fall to ruin because of this transgression. So what, they have the blood of the species within them, tell me what Carpathian doesn't? and tell me who was the one to help purge the stain of Xavier from our bodies?" Each woman pointed towards the pair "Adriana did!" Raven hissed.

"Which lifemate nearly lost everything he was, everything he stood for, to destroy his lifemate because she couldn't take the evil any longer?" again each woman pointed at the pair "Zacarias!" each of the males eased as they listened to the women stand together, fighting for the rights to the lives of Zacarias and his lifemate. "Enough!" Adriana screamed, she left the side of her lifemate and approached the Prince, Zacarias grabbed a hold of her hand, but she snatched it away and stood face-to-face with the Prince. She lifted her wrists to her mouth and tore a wound into each of her veins, holding them out to the eight males around her. "Take my blood if that is your desire. But know that if you do so, you will be forever stained by the Dark Mage and the Vampire. I willingly gave myself to my lifemate because he is my other half. Zacarias has no choice other than death to escape the calls of the Darkness within. Do you want to take my defiled blood into your bodies and then to your lifemates? Even to your own children? I am trying to spare you the Darkness, the evil that is inside me. But you forget I am Dragonseeker! I am the daughter of Tatijana, Granddaughter of Rhiannon. I have never faltered in my six thousand years of brutality, of slavery and debauchery to the Dark Mage. I am a Vampire-child and I am Dragonseeker. Decide if you wish to take my blood, because I am certain that is EXACTLY what Xavier wants you to do. You will certainly kill the entire species through this single act, but that is your choice. You are the Prince, I gave you my oath, if it is my blood you want then take it"

The eight males around her stepped back, leaving Mikhail to face her. Blood dripped steadily onto the wooden floor of the home, hearts beat against the flow of the anger in the room, snarls from Zacarias whispered on the night wind. MaryAnn and Juliette reverted back to their Carpathian forms and awaited the decision of Mikhail. The Prince of the Carpathians and the Princess of Darkness stood in silence, staring deeply into each others eyes, the only sounds were that of breath, the steady dripping of lifeblood and the beating of hearts. Gregori was the first to break the silence "Mikhail," Zacarias made an attempt to get to his lifemate but was unable "Adriana," he called out as he noticed a light sway to her stance, as blood continued to pool on the floor around them. "Mikhail!" Gregori shouted out as he too began to grow concerned over the steady flow of blood. Mikhail took one of Adriana's hands, his fingers gripping her by the wrist in a feeding hold. All eight hunters and Zacarias immediately hissed at the touch, then began to voice their disagreements as he took it closer to his own lips.

A tear ran down Adriana's cheek as her wrist was drawn to the lips of another male. Another soul she would be condemning to eternal damnation, but not just his soul, his entire line. It shattered her heart, Xavier had truly won if the Prince was infected with the Vampires blood. She heard the shouts from the others, but she had shut her eyes and her heart to those around them. She felt her wrist being turned over, and those lips being pressed against the back of her hand. She snapped her eyes open, and blinked repeatedly to clear the water from her eyes. Mikhail was indeed kissing the back of her palms "Adriana, Dragonseeker, your Oath is enough," he turned his eyes over her shoulder "Zacarias, come tend the wounds on your lifemate. The tears are deep, Gregori you may need to assist" Zacarias wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the shelter of his body. He lifted her wrists one by one, running his tongue along the wound, sealing it with his saliva. "Don't you ever do something like that again _Palafertiil" _he hissed in her ear, pulling her against his body tightly. Not daring to release her as Gregori looked over the sealed and fading wounds on her tattooed wrists.

"You are Dragonseeker, there is no need to fear about either of you amongst the people. I will not give in to the demands of the Dark Mage. I will not cause a rift amongst the people. Many have come from different species, even from the Dark Mage himself, and none of them have had to prove anything more than their loyalty to their lifemates. Some have offered their pledge to me and mine, which was unnecessary. You have done this without cause other than you own free will. I will not take that from you. I have wronged you all this night, I ask that you find it in your hearts to forgive me" Mikhail bowed low from the waist to all those in the room. But mainly to the women and the De La Cruz brothers. "You are a great leader of the people Mikhail, Xavier was wrong about you. You always have their safety and well-being to heart, and you would gladly sacrifice yourself for them. You have more heart and compassion than he ever gave you credit for" Mikhail smiled serenely at Adriana's words.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18/?**

**Paranormal Romance **

Just want to say a quick thank you to all those following this story, and have given me warm and wonderful reviews, all credit to the original author; the magnificent Christine Feehan, whom without the wonderous and captivating DARK CARPATHIANS stories, I would not be here. Thank you all.

* * *

_The Devil-Kids will return to the Stars_

_The night is their domain._

_They fight those who'll smelt our blood for the Iron-high_

_Those of us who live in knowledge that they are among us._

_Carpathians; ancient, magnificent and deadly._

_Our greatest Heroes, and most feared predators._

_- Slavica_

* * *

Raven, Savannah and the De La Cruz women all sat around a hearth awaiting the return of their lifemates as a Vampire had been seen roaming dangerously close to the Carpathian people once again. Raven had her needlework in her hands, carefully creating another scene of midnight wonder to their world. Savannah sat on the arm of her mothers chair rocking her newest baby in arms that had held twins not more than one hundred years ago. This time she was blessed with a son, whom cooed and gurgled being around so many females that couldn't stop lavishing affection upon him. Juliette, Lara, MaryAnn and Colby were sat around them, listening to a story Adriana told about the Origins of the Dragonseekers, the heritage that each of the Dragons Flames possessed, which happened to include four of the De La Cruz women, five if she added herself amongst them.

A fire burned in the hearth, warmth radiating throughout the home as each woman sat in companionable silence. Savannah stood after bouncing her son in her arms and approached the De La Cruz women, she softly handed her son towards Adriana "here, you have never held a child have you?" Adriana recoiled from the infant. "I dare not, I am unstable most of the time. I know not when the next throes of agony will consume me, I fear in hurting your precious son. Not to mention I don't believe the healer; your lifemate would be happy about my holding his son" Savannah smiled softly "you have never shown harm to any child amongst the people. I trust you, and because you do not trust in your ability I know you will not harm him, please take him" Adriana inhaled deeply, opening her arms as Savannah gently lay him into the crook of her arm, and allowing his head to be supported on her forearm. "he's so soft and warm" the newest De La Cruz whispered in awe as she held the infant in her arms. "you're a natural, you will someday have one of your own"

Small hands reached upwards, unknowing what to do Adriana looked to Savannah for help "you will find out what he wants, its buried within you, every female is a natural borne mother. You know what he craves deep inside" she answered with a conspiratory wink to the other women. "you can't hurt him" Raven offered as she watched with keen interest as Adriana hesitated to move slightly. Each woman in the circle eyed the pair, as an infant and childless female attempted to make bonds. The child cooed and burbled as he again reached for her face, hesitantly she lowered her face to his hands and was rewarded with a peel of laughter. She pulled back sharply looking at the young child, as a small smile lifted her lips. "When I was but an infant I wanted nothing more than to be held, told stories by my mother and Zacarias" she confessed "I wanted everything I never experienced" her eyes shone brightly, the antique gold shimmering in the glow of the hearth.

"Now that is a beautiful sight" a masculine voice carried across the way. Each of the women stood and greeted their lifemates as one-by-one they entered the home of the Prince, eyes sullen with the taking of another life that once belonged to their world. Zacarias greeted his lifemate, holding onto the cherub son of Gregori and Savannah. He kissed her cheek, then ran his fingers over the boys face in a tender caress. "you will make a fine mother _Palafertiil_" Adriana smiled tenderly, before looking back down into the eyes of the boy she cuddled close. "Indeed, however I would like to keep my son if you don't mind" Gregori gruffed as he approached the pair, his menacing strides were cut short by Savannah as she planted herself in his path, hands on hips and eyebrow raised "Adriana is quite content holding our son Gregori, she's not hurting him, infact he likes her" the baby burbled as in agreement to his mother, his little hands reaching out to the woman holding him. Gregori sighed in resignation and backed off, glowering for a moment at both his lifemate and Adriana. w_hen she drops him Palafertiil do not come crying to me. _

Adriana laughed slightly as she caught his quip to his lifemate. She sidestepped Zacarias and approached the fearsome healer. With a gentleness none had ever seen in one so scarred and beaten, Adriana handed the infant back to his father and planted a tender kiss on his head. "I wish my own father had been as protective as you Healer, perchance I would have never been born the way I am, and you would not fear my being around those I have sworn to never allow harm to befall" She stepped away into the arms of her own lifemate, resting her head upon his chest.

"Adriana, I would love to know how it is you can hear the thoughts of those around you, when you have never taken blood" Gregori questioned as he bounced his son in his arms. "It is simply that I am a Vampire's Daughter, you hear the persistent whispers of darkness, of death and dishonour, when you are an unmated male. Put all that darkness and death into a child borne of a Vampire and she can hear every thought around her, from both the side of the light and the darkness" Adriana admitted, she buried her face into Zacarias's shoulder as she whispered "I am the one who walks the lines, I can be the harbinger of death to all, or the bringer of justice to those whom I see are without honour. My own sanity and heart are always put in the line of fire, it is only a matter of time to see if I will eventually turn on those I save, or destroy myself before I destroy everyone around me" Zacarias wrapped strong arms around his lifemate as he felt her blood run like ice through her body.

"You are stronger than you believe Adriana, a child born of a vampire, but also Dragonseeker. If Dominic were here, he would tell you that you would never lose the fight for your soul. No Dragonseeker has ever turned, and being the daughter of his sister's children, he would cherish you above everything" Adriana stood in silence a moment. "Dominic, Rhiannon's twin brother" Savannah smiled softly, "have you ever met him?" she shook her head "no" she closed her eyes and followed the path in her mind, one lit ablaze by the fires of dragons flame, to the one whom was her Uncle. Adriana's eyes flared bright, as though flames shone deep inside her golden eyes "Dragonseeker" she snarled and hissed a moment as she felt the squirming parasites of the Vampire blood coursing through his veins. "Why has Dominic deliberately ingested Vampire blood?" she fell silent as if seeking an answer, but instead filled the silence with hiss of contempt "infiltrate the Vampire ranks. The Vampires are not stupid! They know who are _masters _and who are pawns, their lessers, Dominic has walked into a trap, and you are all blind to see it, you have given my uncles one very important and valuable ancient fighter"

The fire in the hearth spat and roared unnaturally. A face contorted and danced in the flame "Child, You are Dragonseeker and you are blood-kin, I hear your heart, your fears, but they are unfounded. I am an ancient long versed in the art of battle and war. This was my decision, my final act. I have long given up looking for my lifemate, whom I know must reside in the next life, for she is not in this one. This is my final battle, a honourable death. To destroy the Vampires that seek the Carpathian people, to destroy the Prince" Adriana shook her head and pushed away from Zacarias "No! you are wrong Dominic" she hissed standing before his flamed image. Her hands flying about in a dance of flame and power, her voice became light and flowing, almost trance-like as she sung and swayed;

_Blood-kinned Birth right forged in fire_

_Pull and twist in heated desire_

_Find the one, that is his keeper_

_Dragonseeker to Dragonseeker,_

_One woman for each to find_

_To love and cherish their souls combined_

_Child of a lost and damned line_

_Is the one who can turn the fates of time_

_She is one who can find their lifemate_

_And save their souls before its too late_

_Yours is found her heart is pure_

_Go now uncle she is your cure_

_Purge your blood of Vampire's darkness_

_With her power you will learn to harness _

_She like me is a child born of pain_

_Never to believe in males again_

_She will fight, her dominance is strong_

_But a mate she's desired her whole life-long_

_One whom is a warrior of the highest calibre_

_You are her rock, her confidant, her Xcaliber_

_She is a woman tough to beat_

_Found amidst rainforest heat_

_Four limbs to walk, she runs in stride_

_Fast and powerful two cats collide_

_Your woman is unique one to protect_

_Jaguar-woman, one difficult to detect._

All in the room watched as the flames danced to her words, as a jaguar was running deep amidst the golden blaze, colliding with another, snarls rent the small cabin, the sound of teeth and claws tearing. Dominic's enflamed hands cupped the fighting Jaguar, as she fought gallantly against another. "Name her child, name the one you see in your heart and soul, the one you know is mine and mine alone. I will not deviate from my chosen path but I will see to this woman, that she is well protected in the half-life she will live without me"

_No half-life she will live_

_Her life for those she will give_

_She is on a path of self-destruction_

_An end to the pain of fatherly production_

_He has torn and ripped her heart_

_She seeks his to be torn apart_

_Dragonseeker and Jaguar on the same path_

_To destroy and be destroyed in honourable wrath_

Adriana swayed a moment as the firelight in her eyes dimmed, the natural golden glimmer staring deep into her Uncles' flame face. "you will find her, and together you will be the most invincible pair the Vampires never saw coming. But you have to plan and strategise well, My uncles and Father have been resurrected and the Five are strong and whole once more. Take care and perchance you will both survive" Dominic's form wavered a moment, he dipped his head low in a salute to his living grand-niece. "You have your grandmother's talent to find the lifemates of those close to turning. It is a valuable gift and it holds a weighty price. Rhiannon was a master at match-making, many flocked to her for her ability to read into the blackened souls and find their beacons of light. She was able to distinguish if they resided in the world of the living, were to be born, or were already waiting patiently in the next life. It was in this gift that Xavier sought her, to remove the beacon of hope and light from a race that desperately sought the other halves to their souls, it was a devastating blow. I have never met your mother nor her twin; daughters born to my only sister, but you hold her power, nurture it little Adriana, it will bring great joy and your soul will forever shine with its light" Dominic's form shimmered a moment then exploded into a bright plume of flames in the shape of a dragon in full flight.

Zacarias pulled his lifemate into his arms and stroked her hair tenderly, kissing her temple as she cried silently, knowing that her great-uncle had consigned himself to the most honourable death any Carpathian of his calibre could. "Adriana this is an important power that you kept from us, you should have told us that you can assist the males in finding their lifemates, that you can stop them from becoming the Vampires we destroy" Adriana buried herself deeper into the sanctuary of her lifemates embrace. Zacarias growled at the males, most especially Gregori. "Adriana has done enough! She purges the Vampire when she can, but at the cost of her own soul. You all bore witness to what happened the last time she did, she has to die by my hand! Every single time, and that kills me. Piece by small piece, even though in my soul I know she will rise again from the ashes. But every time I consign her to death, she takes a piece of me as her lifemate. We are a battling pair, a pair that faces death more often than any other. And now you not only want my lifemate and I to purge the Vampires, you wish for Adriana to seek into her soul and find the lifemates of every Carpathian male in our midst? That is too much to ask Gregori"

"I can do it, but there are others that also have the power" Adriana whispered, her heart heavy with the weight of the burden she carried. "I can do it alone, but the sheer intensity of it would kill me. There must be one of each race, a pureblood. Each pureblood holds part of the lock, I am merely the key. There are two twinned Lycanthrope they are Soul's Snares, they each hold part of the soul, keeping it captive for complete surrender unto our power. Lara was Mage-born as was Natalya and Razvan - now all Carpathian, I know not if there is another Mage-born pureblood other than Xavier himself, and there must be a mage to Soul-Weave the power of the races. Dominic, is the only pureblood Dragonseeker, and he is on a death assignment with the only remaining Pureblood Jaguar, the Warrior-heart and Soul-Cleanser. So there is nothing I could do even if I wanted to, to destroy all Vampires and have them be who they once were in a combined single attack, we would all have to unite. Doing it alone is taking its toll on both myself and Zacarias, as it would be for the Jaguar woman, Lycan twins and Mage if there were one. Combined we are the most formidable team in existence"

"that is what Xavier was working to create?" Raven mused quietly earning her the eyes and ears of all in the cabin. "To combine all the races of purebloods into one being, into you" she continued as she thought about the power one single female held, a gifted but cursed young woman. "yes, Xavier knew exactly what he was doing, it works both ways" she admitted quietly, but it snapped every pair of eyes towards her. "What do you mean both ways?" Adriana cowered into Zacarias deeper as she felt the malevolence in the room. Zacarias growled deeply his eyes flickering into the deep rouge of the mixed lycan blood within him. "I can destroy you all" she whispered her heart leaden with pain and guilt. "We are paired, we have lifemates there is nothing you can do to us that," Adriana turned away, unable to face them any longer.

"you can break the bond?" Shea said aghast suddenly afraid for them all, Adriana nodded. "I can, the blood of each species is within me, I am the Key, simply by accident with the unity of both Vampire and Mage-borne Carpathian. His deliberate experiments made me the lock as well as he forcefully fuelled the blood into my body, each tattoo is a mark of whom I can take down, of whom I can destroy with nothing more than my will" Darius, Gabriel and Lucian all appeared in the small cabin, and surrounded both Zacarias and Adriana. Gregori stood before Mikhail, his silver eyes glowing menacingly as he looked at his lifemate and newborn son "Xavier has always meddled with things best left alone" he revealed. Gabriel took another step towards Zacarias and Adriana hissing "It was said upon the creation of the Carpathian people, there were two sets of twins, one to create life and one to destroy everything the other made. In the centuries there was a battle and the price was steeped high in bodies, but there was significant damage on both sides. A child of destruction and a child of creation both perished, neither could survive without the other, and neither could co-exist"

"Carpathian's and Vampires. I know of the tale, however you have not added the crucial information. The children of destruction used humans, a lower subordinate species to carry out their carnage. They laid a siege against the children of creation in a war to decimate their growing numbers. The Turks cared nothing of the Men, women and Children they slaughtered, they were fuelled on the lies twisted and manipulated by the Vampires" Lucian growled as he recalled the war that had him and his twin leave for the larger mainland across the waters, away from their people on behest of their prince, Mikhail's father, and was subsequently the death of a brilliant man and his lifemate. "no-one knows of the conspiracies, how would a mere woman-child as yourself know of such?"

"I am a Vampire's child, the whispers of the untold tale is the founding order of all Vampires. I know of treachery, debauchery, death and destruction. It is the code of the undead, and one that must be maintained at all costs, and they do everything in their power to bring own the reign of the light and smother it in infinite darkness" The Dratazzanoffs all converged on Adriana and Zacarias "And where do your loyalties lie? Child of Vampire" Adriana smirked a moment, and stood her ground before her lifemate. "need you ask? I have proved my loyalties to Mikhail, had I wished to destroy you all, I could have. I have the power to, yet I believe in the light, I believe in truth and justice against the Vampire blood inside me. I may be borne to the Children of destruction, but I am also borne to the children of creation. Two sides were never meant to unite, but they did" Mikhail inclined his head at her words, Gregori's eyes caught hers as he suddenly felt her presence in his mind _Gregori, I am going to prove my point to your thick headed brothers that seem to still question my loyalties to Mikhail and the People. There will be no death here, and there will be no direct harm to you or those around you. Trust in me._

Gregori smirked and lifted an eyebrow in acquiescence and watched as Adriana did nothing but look down towards the floorboards a moment. "you are but one female and a woman-child, you hold no power over us who are ancient" Darius announced as he reached out a hand towards the female. Adriana lifted her eyes, two glowing orbs of liquid gold light, that shone brightly. She smirked at each of the three males "How are you going to stop me?" Lucian and Darius made a move on the pair only to find themselves hurled away and pinned against the walls of the hone. Adriana had not moved a single inch, yet she was completely in control. Gabriel made himself vanish into vapour. Adriana smiled "nice try, however" lifting a single hand she swept it through the air, and grasped it into a fist, her hand glowing a soft shimmery purple as she wove Mage magic effortlessly. Gabriel reappeared somewhat surprised he'd been bested by a mere child. "that is nothing" she simply stated as she faded away and vanished without a trace, nor molecule in the room.

Zacarias smirked as he watched the males searching everywhere for his lifemate as she toyed with them. Gabriel suddenly found himself mewing like a kitten, purring as he dropped to all fours. Darius growled as he was suddenly on the wooden floor, on his hands and feet before he began barking like a dog, he sighted Gabriel who was still mewling like a cat and began to chase him around the room. Lucian looked everywhere, trying to locate a single molecule of this woman-child whom was able to elude and humiliate his brothers. Gregori's laughter boomed throughout the small cabin as he witnessed his brothers humiliation, being outwitted by a female three and four times younger than them. Lucian found himself doing a funky chicken dance, completely un-controlling of his own body. His arms flapping about and his head bobbing in jerky movements. Mikhail snickered, Raven laughed out rightly, Savannah desperately tried to not giggle which only made it worse. Eventually the whole cabin was engulfed in peels of laughter.

"Okay you've proved your point, these animals are totally hapless" Gregori mused as he got a reign over his laughter. Gabriel was suddenly in his own mind once again, he stood and was instantly crashed into by Darius who was still barking like a dog. Darius pinned his elder brother to the floor and began licking at his face, like a happy pooch. Lucian clucked once more before he gained the use of his arms and instantly folded them as a wave of heated embarrassment flooded him. "Gentlemen have I proved my point?" Adriana asked sweetly as she too reappeared sitting cross-legged by the hearth, warming her hands in a bored manner. "point proven, now get Darius off me!" Gabriel hissed. Adriana snapped her fingers, Darius was mid-lick when he looked down and saw his elder brother pinned under him "Now that's just sick!" he snapped throwing himself off his elder brother and sitting on the floor whilst repeatedly wiping at his tongue.

"Gregori! How can you not defend you brothers honour? She's humiliated us" Darius whined as he wiped his tongue yet again "I found it quite entertaining, not to mention," he looked at Zacarias "your lifemate gave me full warming and I gave her full permission" Zacarias laughed his head lowered a moment until he was consumed in a brilliant flame that wove itself like a dragon around his body. Adriana stood where Zacarias once was, and Zacarias was standing beside the hearth. "Very well played my dear, your imagery and power of manipulation is exemplary" Mikhail bowed low. "It was certainly fun" Adriana laughed.

* * *

AN: sorry a little light humour was injected for a change. I couldn't stop the flurry of giggles this one brought. i would imagine Gregori's face everytime.


End file.
